Page 124 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

—Antonio
I pray thee, hear me speak.

—Shylock
I’ll have my bond—I will not hear thee speak.
I’ll have my bond—and therefore speak no more. / and not your pleading words
I’ll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, 8
To shake my head, relent, and° sigh,° and yield / so meekly, // moan
To Christian meddlers.° Stay there, follow not. 9 {intercessors}
I’ll have no speaking—I will have my bond. 10

Exit Shylock

—Salanio 11
It is the most impenetrable dog° {cur}
That ever kept° with men. 12 / stayed

—Antonio Let him alone.
13
I’ll follow him no more with feckless° prayers. {bootless} / useless
He seeks my life; his reason well I know:° 14 / I know well / I well know
+Many a time he would make loans of money / Many a time he would make loans to men
To those who could not pay the sums on time; / Who could not then repay the debt on time
And thus, as forfeit, would lose all their goods ., / And they’d be forced to forfeit all their goods
Such men would come to me and moan their fate,° / bemoaning their fate
And I, compelled, would loan them money, gratis,° 15 / funds, sans int’rest
16 17 18
Which freed them from his brutal° forfeitures. / crushing / grievous / scathing

8. dull-eyed fool: one who cannot see clearly; one who has the wool pulled over his eyes; one who is hoodwinked;
one who is easily deceived
9. {To Christian intercessors. Follow not} / To interfering Christians. Follow not.
The term interfering resonates with God-fearing.
10. In this short scene, Shylock bids Antonio to speak not four times; and he speaks the words, my bond, six times.
11. The characters of Salanio and Salarino are virtually the same, like two voices of one characters; as such, their
lines are virtually interchangeable. On closer examination, however, we see that Salanio is often given lines which
are more forceful and philosophical in nature than those of Salarino: in 1.1 he waxes philosophical, in 2.4 he
disagrees with the plan to steal Jessica, and here he expresses outright loathing. Salarino and Salanio come as a pair
and often play the role of dual sounding-boards which allow the central characters to express their thoughts. In this
line Salanio is uncharacteristically forceful (and expressive of a definite opinion). His words resemble those spoken
by Salerio in the previous scene: ‘Never did I know | A creature that did bear the shape of a man | So keen and
greedy to confound a man.’ [3.2.272-74]
12. That ever kept with men: a) that every kept the company of men, b) that ever appeared as a man
13. {I’ll follow him no more with these bootless prayers.}
bootless: lit. ‘without boots’; unable to run, i.e., ineffectual, hopeless, unavailing, feckless, ‘going nowhere,’ etc.
/ I’ll follow not with prayers that go nowhere / I’ll follow not with such meaningless pleas / I’ll follow not
with stale and feckless prayers
14. / I know the reason why he seeks my life
15. / And I would loan them funds, without interest
16. / Which delivered them from his forfeitures
17.The original passage (now replaced by six lines) reads as follows:
{I oft delivered from his forfeitures | Many that have at times made moan to me}
18. A more introspective Antonio might have added: ¢Moreover, I have oft-times cursed the man | Railing his
presence at the Rialto, | Spitting upon his face each time I passed.¦