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Taking Nerissa’s hand

My° eyes, my lord, can look° as swift as yours: / These / Mine // move
You saw the mistress, I beheld the maid;
6
You loved, I loved—and lengthy° postponements / long-drawn / undue
No more pertain to you, my lord, than me.
Your fortune stood upon the caskets there,
7 8
And, as the matter falls, so too did mine.
For I did woo until I ran° with sweat, / I poured / beads fell
And swore until my very roof went dry
With oaths of love, until at last—if promise
Doth last—I got the promise of this fair one, 9
To have her love, provided ‘twas your fate° {that your fortune}
10 11
To win° her mistress. {Achieved} / Brought you

—Portia Is this true, Nerissa?

— Nerissa
Madam, it is, if you stand pleased with it.° {withal}

—Bassanio
And do you, Gratziano, speak in truth?° {mean good faith} / speak in faith

—Gratziano
In truth,° my lord. {Yes, faith} / Yes, truth / In faith

—Bassanio
Our feast shall be much honoured in your marriage.

—Gratziano [to Nerissa]

6. {for intermission}: taking a break (from action); inactivity; a rest period (wherein one does not pursue the object
of his love)
You loved; I loved . . . / and to postpone that love / and bearing such delays / to stay the fruits thereof
/ You loved the one and I loved the other— | And neither one could bear the long delay.
/ You loved the one, and I the other—neither | Could you nor I, endure the long delay.
7. {And so did mine too, as the matter falls} / And like as well, as fate would fall, did mine.
8. / You loved the one, and I did love the other; | And neither you, my lord, nor I, could bear | A long delay. Your
fortune stood upon | Your choice, so too, as fate would fall, did mine.
9. / And swore with oaths of love until my roof / And swore until my very roof went dry,
Went dry, until at last—if promise last— With oaths of love, until at last—assuming
I got the promise from this fair one here Her promise last—I got this fair one’s promise
10. / To have her love, provided ‘twas your fate | To win her mistress.
/ To have her love, if so your fortune be | To win her mistress.
/ To have her love, provided that your fortune | Did win her mistress
11. Gratziano must abide by Nerissa’s fateful terms, which are: only if Bassanio chooses the right casket (and wins
Portia) will Gratziano and Nerissa be able to be together. (Gratziano would never impose such absurd terms upon his
own love). Why were such terms imposed by Nerissa? What meaning did they have? Nerissa must have been sure
that Bassanio would win Portia—sure enough to stake her own happiness upon it. And how did she become so sure
of such a fate? [See Additional Note, 3.2.196]