and enter.

The moon's bright tonight. I think that on a night like this, when the wind blew the trees so gently that they didn't make a sound, Troilus climbed up onto the walls of Troy and sighed for Cressida in the Greek camp.

On a night like this, Thisbe saw the lion's shadow and ran away in fear.

On a night like this, Dido stood holding a willow branch on the seashore, begging her lover to come back to her in Carthage.

On a night like this, Medea gathered magic herbs to rejuvenate old Aeson.

On a night like this, Jessica ran away from the wealthy Jew and stole his money. She ran away from Venice all the way to Belmont with her spendthrift lover.

On a night like this, young Lorenzo swore he loved her very much, stealing her heart with vows of love, but not one vow was true.

On a night like this, pretty Jessica, in a bad mood, said outrageously wrong things about her lover, and he forgave her.

I'd get the better of you in this storytelling game, but somebody's coming. I hear his footsteps.

, a messenger, enters.

Who are you, coming so fast in this quiet night?

A friend.

A friend? What friend? What's your name, please, friend?

My name's Stephano, and I've come to tell you my mistress will arrive here at Belmont before sunrise. She's still at the monastery, kneeling and praying for a happy marriage.

Who's coming with her?

No one except her maid and a holy hermit. Has my master returned yet?

No, he hasn't, and we haven't heard from him.-But let's go in, Jessica. We'll get ready to welcome the mistress of the house back home.

enters.

Hey, hey! Hey! Yoo-hoo!

Who's shouting?

Hey! Have you seen Master Lorenzo! Master Lorenzo, hey! Hey!

Stop hollering, man! I'm here.

Hey! Where, where?

Here.

Tell him a messenger has arrived from my master with good news. My master will be here in the morning.

exits.

My dear, let's go inside and wait for them to arrive. But I guess it doesn't matter. Why should we go in?-Stephano, tell the household staff that your mistress is about to arrive, and bring some musicians outside here.

( exits.)

How beautiful the moonlight's shining on this bank! Let's sit here and let the music fill our ears. Stillness and nighttime are perfect for beautiful music. Sit down, Jessica. Look at the stars, see how the floor of heaven is inlaid with small disks of bright gold. Stars and planets move in such perfect harmony that some believe you can hear music in their movement. If you believe this, even the smallest star sings like an angel in its motion. Souls have that same kind of harmony. But because we're here on earth in our earthly bodies, we can't hear it.

Musicians enter.

Wake up the moon goddess with a hymn! Get her attention and draw her home with music.

Music plays.

I'm never in the mood to laugh when I hear sweet music.

That's because your soul is paying attention to the music. Take a wild herd of animals, or young untrained colts, leaping around like crazy, roaring and neighing loudly, which they have to do because it's in their blood-but if they happen to hear a trumpet, or any kind of music, they all stand still. Sweet music makes their wild eyes peaceful. That's why the poet Ovid wrote that the great musician Orpheus could make trees, stones, and rivers come to him by playing music. There's nothing in the world that can resist music. The man who can't be moved by the harmonious melodies is fit only for treason, violence, and pillage. His soul is as dull as night and dark as the underworld. Nobody like that should be trusted. Pay attention to the music.

and enter.

That light we see is coming from my hall. Look how far that little candle sends its light! That's the way a good deed shines in a naughty world.

While the moon was shining we didn't even notice the candle.

Well, brighter lights always dim the smaller ones. A governor shines as brightly as a king until a king is near by, and the governor suddenly looks like a nobody. Music, listen!

It's your music, madam, from your house.

Now I see that you can't call anything good except in right context. I think that music sounds much better at night than it does during the day.

The night's silence makes it sound better.

The crow sings as well as the lark when no one's listening. If the nightingale sang during the day, when every goose is honking, nobody would think it sang any better than a wren. How many things in life seem good to us because of when they happen! Quiet now! Look how the moon seems to be sleeping with its lover and can't be awoken!

Music ceases.

If I'm not mistaken, that's Portia's voice.

He recognizes me like a blind man recognizes a cuckoo-by its bad voice.

Dear lady, welcome home.

We've been praying for our husbands' welfare. We hope they're better off because of our prayers. Have they come back?

No, ma'am, they haven't. But a messenger came ahead to tell us they were on their way.

Go inside, Nerissa. Tell my servants not to mention that we were gone. You must not, either, Lorenzo-or you, Jessica.

A trumpet sounds.

Your husband's near. I hear his trumpet. We're not tattle-tales, madam, don't worry.

I think this night is just like sick daylight. It only looks a little paler. It looks like a day when the sun is hidden.

and move aside and talk , , , and their followers enter. and move aside and talk.

(to PORTIA) If you walked outside at night, it would be daylight here at the same time as on the other side of the world.

I'll give light to men, but I'll never be light or unchaste. An unfaithful wife makes a husband worry, and I'll never let Bassanio worry if I can help it. I hope God figures it all out! Welcome home, my husband.

Thank you, darling. I'd like to introduce you to my friend. This is Antonio, my dearest friend. We are closely tied.

You should be tied to him, since he tied himself up so much for you.

But I've been paid back well.

Sir, welcome to our house. But action speaks louder than words, so I'll cut short these polite words.

(to NERISSA) I swear by that moon over there that you're doing me wrong! I'm telling the truth! I gave it to the judge's clerk. I wish the guy I gave it to had been castrated, since you're getting so upset about it.

What, an argument already? What's the matter?

We're arguing about a hoop of gold, a cheap little ring she gave me, that had a little inscription on it, nothing more than a knife-maker's attempt at poetry. It said, "Love me and don't leave me."

How can you talk about the quality of the poem or the value of the ring? You swore to me when I gave it to you that you would wear it till you died, and that it would be buried with you. If you didn't want to take care of it for my sake, you should have just because you made so many vows that you'd take care of it. And now you claim you gave it to a judge's clerk! No, I swear to God that clerk will never grow a beard on his face.

He will if he lives long enough to become a man.

Yes, if a woman grows up to be a man.

I swear I gave it to a youth, a kind of boy, a little stunted boy, no taller than yourself. He was the judge's clerk, a chatty boy who wanted it as a fee. I didn't have the heart to say no to him.

I have to be honest with you. You were wrong to give away your wife's first gift so thoughtlessly, a thing you swore to keep on your finger and bound faithfully to your body. I gave my lover a ring and made him swear never to lose it or give it away. And here he is. I'd swear he wouldn't leave it behind, or even take it off his finger, for all the money in the world. To tell the truth, Gratiano, you're giving your wife a valid reason to get upset. If it were me, I'd be very upset too.

(to himself) Maybe I should cut off my left hand and swear I lost the ring defending it.

Bassanio gave his ring to the judge who asked for it, and deserved it too. And then his clerk, who went to a lot of trouble with the writing, begged for mine. Neither of them would take anything but the two rings.

Which ring did you give away, my lord? Not the one I gave you, I hope.

If I could make things better by lying, I'd deny it. But you see my finger doesn't have the ring on it. It's gone.

Just as there's no ring on your finger, there's no truth in your heart. I swear I'll never get into your bed until I see the ring again!

(to GRATIANO) Me neither, until I see mine again!

My dear Portia, if you knew who I gave the ring to, for whose sake I gave the ring to him, why I gave it to him, and how unwilling I was to leave it when he wouldn't accept anything but the ring, you wouldn't be so angry.

If you'd known how much that ring meant, how much the woman who gave it to you is worth, or how much your honor depended on your keeping the ring, you wouldn't have let it go. Who would be so unreasonable as to insist on taking the ring if you'd defended it with any kind of zeal? Who would have had so little self-restraint that they'd insist on getting a ring with ceremonial value? Nerissa's got the right idea. I'll bet my life you gave some woman the ring!

No, I swear, madam. No woman got it from me, but an expert in civil law who refused three thousand ducats but asked instead for the ring, which I denied him. I watched him leave looking discontented, even though he had saved the life of my good friend. What could I say, my dear? I had to send it to him. I was ashamed and wanted to show my good manners. I just couldn't dishonor myself by acting ungrateful to him. Please forgive me, good lady. If you'd been there, I think you would have begged me to give him the ring.

Don't let that lawyer ever come near my house! Since he has the jewel I loved, which you swore you'd keep forever, I'll be as generous as you were to him. I won't deny him anything of mine, including my own body and my husband's bed. I'll recognize him all right, I'm sure of it. So don't spend one night away from this house. Watch me like a hawk. If you don't, if I'm left alone, I swear I'll have that legal expert as my bedfellow.

(to GRATIANO) And I'll have his clerk as mine. So be careful when you leave me to my own devices.

Well, go ahead. But don't let me catch him, because if I do I'll break that clerk's pen.

All these quarrels are about me.

Don't be upset. You're welcome in our home in spite of everything that's going on.

Portia, forgive me for this mistake that I had to make. All these friends are my witnesses, so I swear to you, I swear by your beautiful eyes, in which I see myself reflected-

Did you hear that! He sees himself in my two eyes, so there's two of him. He should swear by his two-faced self, and that's an oath I'll believe!

No, just listen to me. If you forgive my mistake, I swear I'll never break an oath with you again.

I lent my body once to make him rich. If it hadn't been for the gentleman who now owns your husband's ring, my body would've been lost. I'd be the guarantee again, promising my soul this time as penalty, if your husband ever breaks a vow again knowingly.

(she gives ANTONIO a ring) Then you'll be my guarantee. Give him this. And tell him to hold on to it better than the other one.

(he gives BASSANIO PORTIA's ring) Here, Bassanio, swear that you'll keep this ring.

My God, it's the same one I gave the judge!

I got it from him. I'm sorry, Bassanio, but the legal expert slept with me in exchange for this ring.

(she takes out a ring) And I'm sorry too, Gratiano, but that stunted lawyer's clerk slept with me last night in exchange for this ring.

This is like fixing roads in the summer when they don't need to be fixed! What, did you cheat on us before we deserved it?

Don't be crass.-You all look confused.(she takes out a letter) Here's a letter. Read it at your leisure. It comes from Padua, from Bellario. You'll find out that Portia was the lawyer, and Nerissa was her clerk. Lorenzo here will testify that I left the house right when you did, and just returned. I haven't yet entered my house.-Antonio, welcome. I have better news than you expect in store for you. (she gives ANTONIO another letter) Open this letter. You'll find out that three of your ships have suddenly arrived in the harbor loaded with a great deal of wealth. You'll never guess what a strange coincidence it was that I came across this letter.

I'm speechless.

(to PORTIA) You were the doctor, and I didn't even recognize you?

(to NERISSA) Were you the clerk with whom my wife's going to cheat on me?

Yes, but the clerk will never do it, unless he grows up to be a man.

(to PORTIA) My sweet lawyer, you'll be my bedfellow. When I'm not there, you can sleep with my wife.

Madam, you've given me life and given me a living too. I've read in this letter that my ships have safely come to harbor.

How are you, Lorenzo? My clerk has some comforting news for you, too.

Yes, and I'll give it to him for free. (she gives LORENZO a document) This is from the rich Jew, for you and Jessica. It's a special testament. After he dies, you'll inherit everything he owns.

Ladies, you're dropping bread from the heavens to starving people.

It's almost morning, but I'm sure you're not fully satisfied about what happened. Let's go inside and we'll answer all your questions truthfully.

All right, then. My first question for Nerissa is whether she'd rather wait till tomorrow night or go to bed now, since there are only two more hours till morning. When the day comes, I'll wish it were nighttime, so I could sleep with the legal expert's clerk. In any case, I won't worry about anything for the rest of my life more than keeping Nerissa's ring safe.

They exit.