_Por._ Why then, thus it is: You must prepare your bosom for his knife. 240 _Shy._ O noble judge! O excellent young man! _Por._ For the intent and purpose of the law Hath full relation to the penalty, Which here appeareth due upon the bond. _Shy._ ’Tis very true: O wise and upright judge! 245 How much more elder art thou than thy looks! _Por._ Therefore lay bare your bosom. _Shy._ Ay, his breast: So says the bond:—doth it not, noble judge?— ‘Nearest his heart:’ those are the very words. _Por._ It is so. Are there balance here to weigh 250 The flesh? _Shy._ I have them ready. _Por._ Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge, To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. _Shy._ Is it so nominated in the bond? _Por._ It is not so express’d: but what of that? 255 ’Twere good you do so much for charity. _Shy._ I cannot find it; ’tis not in the bond. _Por._ You, merchant, have you any thing to say? _Ant._ But little: I am arm’d and well prepared. Give me your hand, Bassanio: fare you well! 260 Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you; For herein Fortune shows herself more kind Than is her custom: it is still her use To let the wretched man outlive his wealth, To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow 265 An age of poverty; from which lingering penance Of such misery doth she cut me off. Commend me to your honourable wife: Tell her the process of Antonio’s end; Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death; 270 And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a love. Repent but you that you shall lose your friend, And he repents not that he pays your debt; For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, 275 I’ll pay it presently with all my heart. _Bass._ Antonio, I am married to a wife Which is as dear to me as life itself; But life itself, my wife, and all the world, Are not with me esteem’d above thy life: 280 I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all Here to this devil, to deliver you. _Por._ Your wife would give you little thanks for that, If she were by, to hear you make the offer. _Gra._ I have a wife, whom, I protest, I love: 285 I would she were in heaven, so she could Entreat some power to change this currish Jew. _Ner._ ’Tis well you offer it behind her back; The wish would make else an unquiet house. _Shy._ These be the Christian husbands. I have a daughter; 290 Would any of the stock of Barrabas Had been her husband rather than a Christian! [_Aside._ We trifle time: I pray thee, pursue sentence. _Por._ A pound of that same merchant’s flesh is thine: The court awards it, and the law doth give it. 295 _Shy._ Most rightful judge!