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nydus/The Merchant of VenicePublic

To help his friend Bassanio woo the beautiful Portia, the Venetian merchant Antonio borrows a large sum from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender.

Page 127 of 161
Table of Contents

Act IV

Nerissa
’Tis well you offer it behind her back;
The wish would make else an unquiet house.
Shylock
These be the Christian husbands. I have a daughter;
Would any of the stock of Barrabas
Had been her husband rather than a Christian!
We trifle time: I pray thee, pursue sentence.
Aside.
Portia
A pound of that same merchant’s flesh is thine:
The court awards it, and the law doth give it.
Shylock
Most rightful judge!
Portia
And you must cut this flesh from off his breast:
The law allows it, and the court awards it.
127