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We’ll place a wager° for a thousand ducats 12 {play with them}
That the first boy be ours.

—Nerissa What, and stake down? 13

—Gratziano
We will not win that wager with stake down!° 14
But who comes here? Lorenzo and his infidel?
What, and my old Venetian friend Salerio? 15

Enter Lorenzo and Jessica, with Salerio, a messenger from Venice 16

—Bassanio
Lorenzo and Salerio, welcome hither;
If that the youth of my new int’rest here
Doth grant me power to bid you welcome. [Portia nods]
[to Portia] Sweet Portia, by your leave I bid, my friends 17
And fellows, welcome. 18

—Portia So do I, my lord.
You° are entirely welcome. {They}

— Lorenzo [to Bassanio]
I thank your honour. For my part, my lord,
My purpose° was not to have seen you here, 19 / intent
But having met° Salerio on the way° 20 {But meeting with} // road
He did entreat me past all saying ‘nay’

12. / We’ll play with them a thousand ducat wager
13. stake down: to lay down money (on a table) to cover a bet. The term is similarly used in ‘staking one’s claim.’
14. {No, we shall ne’er win at that sport and stake down} / No, we shall ne’er win that bet with my stake down!
stake down: In the first instance (as used by Nerissa) stake down mean to secure or place down money to cover
a wager; in the second instance, used here, the phrase refers to a male stake, or erection. Gratziano is saying that
they can never win the wager (to have the first boy) with his stake down (as opposed to up). Some productions have
Gratziano play out this bawdy imagery by holding a stick or a stretched piece of fabric in the position of an erection
and then lowering it when he mentions that he cannot win the bet with his stake down.
15. Salerio needs to be introduced here by name and by reference (Venetian) because this is the first time the
audience sees the character. Some editors, for the sake of economy (though in error) combine the two minor
characters of Salerio and Salarino, into a single character (Salerio). However, nothing in the text—nor anywhere
else—supports this kind of compaction. Had Gratziano’s good friend, Salarino, arrived here (as opposed to Salerio,
a messenger) Gratziano would have greeted him more personally, with something like, ‘my good friend Salarino,’ as
opposed to the rather reserved and distant, ‘my old Venetian friend Salerio.’ Neither would Gratziano have
‘located’ Salarino as being ‘from Venice,’ since the audience already knows that Salarino is from Venice, having
seen him several times before. [See Essays: The Sallies: Salarino, Salanio, and Salerio]
16. Salerio, who makes his entrance for the first time, needs an introduction—and so he is identified as a ‘messenger
from Venice’ in the stage direction.
17. / With your permission, my sweet and fair Portia, | I bid my friends welcome. / dulcet / cherubic
18. { . . . By your leave, | I bid my very friends and countrymen, | Sweet Portia, welcome.}
19. / My intention was not to see you here
20. Where along the way could they have met?—the way in question is the 20-mile stretch of land that lies between
Venice and Belmont.