Bass. In my school days, when I had lost one
shaft, (10)

I shot his fellow, of the self-same flight,
The self-same way, with more advised watch,
To find the other forth; by vent'ring both,
I oft found both. I urge this childhood proof,
Because what follows is pure

innocence.

I owe you much, and, like a wilful youth,
That which I owe is lost; but if you please
To shoot another arrow that self

way,

Which you did shoot the first, I do not doubt,
As I will watch the aim, or to find both,
Or bring your latter hazard back again,
And thankfully rest debtor for the first.

[time,

Anth. You know me well; and herein spend but

To wind about my love with circumstance;
And out of doubt, you do me now more wrong,
In making question of my uttermost,
Than if you had made waste of all I have.
Then do but say to me what I should do,
That in your knowledge may by me be done,
And I am prest unto it: therefore speak.

Bass. In Belmont is a lady, richly left,

(10) The prototype of Bassanio in the moon has a very boyish appearance, his bow and arrow seem to be constituted of the rays of light upon and over his head, as if he were shooting backward.

And she is fair, and, fairer than that word,
Of wond'rous virtues. Sometime, from her eyes
I did receive fair speechless messages

Her name is Portia, (11) nothing undervalu'd
To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia :

Nor is the wide world ign'rant of her worth;
For the four winds blow in from ev'ry coast,
Renowned suitors.

O, my Anthonio, had I but the means,
To hold a rival place with one of them,
I have a mind presages me such thrift,
That I should questionless be fortunate.

[sea,

Anth. Thou know'st, that all my fortunes are at

Nor have I money, nor commodity,

To raise a present sum; therefore, go forth;
Try what my credit can in Venice do ;
That shall be rack'd even to the uttermost,
To furnish thee to Belmont, to fair Portia.
Go, presently inquire, and so will I,

(11) Portia is no other than that very little figure in the central light opening (porte) between the larger masses of shadow in the moon, which was the prototype of Cupid in fig. 22, ante. From this it appears that the same outline defines her face and that of Bassanio, and their lips meet, though their faces, in respect of each other, are turned upside down.

Where money is; and I no question make, (12)
To have it of my trust, or for my sake. [Exeunt.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA.

Por. By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is weary of this great world.

(13) Ner. You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries were in the same abundance as your good fortunes are; and yet, for ought I see, they are as sick that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing; therefore, it is no mean happiness to be seated in the mean. Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.

Por. Good sentences, and well pronounc'd. Ner. They would be better, if well follow'd. Por. If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. He is a good divine that follows his own instructions; I

(12) Inquire where money is. The person of Anthonio in the moon is spotted with circular marks of light like coins.

(13) Nerissa is the same as Hudibras's Trulla (fig. 20), and her name may impart the resemblance which, in color and features, her prototype bears to a negress. The three caskets will be pointed out in their several proper places hereafter.

can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than to be one of the twenty to follow my own teaching. But this reasoning is not in fashion, to choose me a husband. O me, the word, choose! I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter, curb'd by the will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none?

Ner. Your father was ever virtuous, and holy men, at their death, have good inspirations : therefore the lottery that he hath devised, in these three chests of gold, silver, and lead, (whereof who chooses his meaning, chooses you,) will no doubt never be chosen by any, rightly, but one who shall rightly love. But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these princely suitors that are already come?

Por. I pray thee, over-name them, and as thou nam'st them, I will describe them; and, according to my description, level at my affection.

Ner. First, there is the Neapolitan prince. (14)

(14) If the south side of the moon be placed uppermost, the Neapolitan Prince will be found on the left hand, having the same prototype as the smock-bearer in Hudibras, drawn ante in fig. 29. His own left foot, as he sits mounted on his colt, resembles a horse-shoe, as may be

Por. Ay, that's a dolt, indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse; and he makes it a great appropriation to his own good parts, that he can shoe him himself; I am much afraid, my lady, his mother play'd false with a smith.

Ner. Then, there is the count Palatine. (15) Por. He doth nothing but frown, as who should say, if you will not have me, choose; he hears merry tales, and smiles not: I fear he will prove the weeping philosopher, when he grows old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be married to a death's head with a bone in his mouth, than to either of these. defend me from these two.

Heav'n

Ner. How say you by the French lord, Monsieur Le Bon? (16)

seen in the moon; and his being made up of dark shadows, without light, may be the reason of the poet's jest upon his mother.

(15) The Count Palatine I take to be the same as the second Grave-digger in Hamlet, and the Steward in King Lear, drawn before in figures 73 and 87. His frowning is sufficiently manifest, and across the shadows of his face there is, in light, what may be conceived to resemble a bone in his mouth; for which his prototype is to be inspected. (16) Mons. le Bon, who is drawn in fig. 110, has the same original as Whachum in Hudibras, drawn before in fig. 34. The head of his horse is in fact better shaped, as