Act IV

Most learned judge! A sentence! Come, prepare!

Tarry a little; there is something else.

This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;

The words expressly are “a pound of flesh:”

Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh;

But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed

One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods

Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate

Unto the state of Venice.

O upright judge! Mark, Jew: O learned judge!

Is that the law?

Thyself shalt see the act:

For, as thou urgest justice, be assured

Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest.

O learned judge! Mark, Jew: a learned judge!

I take this offer, then; pay the bond thrice

And let the Christian go.

Here is the money.