Page 142 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

—Salerio My lord, there waits° without 58 {stays}
A messenger with letters from the judge,° {doctor}
New° come from Padua. / Just

—Duke
Bring us° the letters! Call the messenger! / me

Exit Salerio

—Bassanio
Good cheer, Antonio! What man, courage yet. 59
The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all,
Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.

—Antonio
60
I am a tainted servant° of the flock, {tainted wether} / feeble creature
Meetest° for death. The weakest kind of fruit / Most fit
Drops earliest to the ground—and so let me.
Now then, Bassanio, you are best employed
To live, that you may write° my epitaph. 61 / To stay alive and write

Enter Salerio with Nerissa, dressed as a lawyer’s clerk

—Duke
Come you from Padua, from Bellario?

—Nerissa
From both, my lord. Bellario greets your grace.

She hands him a letter
Shylock sharpens his knife on the sole of his shoe

—Bassanio [to Shylock]
Why dost thou whet° thy knife so earnestly? > sharpen

—Shylock
To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt° there. {bankrout}

—Gratziano
62
Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,

58. / My Lord, there’s waiting outside / My Lord, remains outside
59. / Hold fast man, have courage!
60. wether: weak or castrated ram. From bellwether: a ram with a bell hung round its neck
61. {You cannot be better employed, Bassanio, | Than to live still and write mine epitaph.}
62. sole: Shylock whets his knife on the sole of his shoe or boot