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130
You, merchant, have you anything to say?

—Antonio
But little. I am braced° and well-prepared. {armed} / ready
Give me your hand Bassanio, fare you well.
Grieve not that I am fall’n to this for you,
For herein Fortune shows herself more kind
Than is her custom: it is e’er° her way° / ever {still her use}
To let the wretched° man outlive his wealth, / des’late
To view with hollow° eye and wrinkled brow / sunken
His final years of pain and° poverty— / painful
But from the misery of this ling’ring penance
131 132
Doth she, +with bitter° kindness,, now release me. / loving
Speak well of me° unto your honored wife. 133
Tell her the story° of Antonio’s end. {process} / events
Say how I loved you, even at my death.° {speak me fair in death}
And when the tale is told, bid her be judge
Whether Bassanio had not once been loved.° 134 {a love} / a friend
Regret but you° that you shall lose your friend; {Repent} // Regret one thing— 135
And he regrets° not that he pays your debt: {repents}
For if the Jew do cut but deep enough,
I’ll pay it instantly° with all my heart. 136 / willingly

—Bassanio
Antonio, I am married to a wife
Who° is as dear to me as life itself; {Which}
But life itself, my wife, and all the world
Are not with me more dear than is° thy life. 137 {esteemed above}

130. Portia calls Shylock by name on many occasions, but herein does not refer to Antonio impersonally as, ‘you,
merchant.’ After the turning point [259]—when Portia gives up hope to try and dissuade Shylock from his inhumane
course—she never again refers to him by name, but as the ‘Jew.’ During the trial, Portia refers to Antonio as ‘the
merchant,’ [260, 296]; after Shylock is thwarted, she calls him by his proper name [369, 374].
131. / I am, by Fortune’s kindness, now released. / I am, by her sweet kindness so delivered.
132. To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow . . .
{An age of poverty—from which ling’ring penance | Of such misery doth she cut me off.}
a) / An age of poverty—and now she saves | Me from the ling’ring penance of such misery.
b) / Long years of aging pain and poverty | The misery from which I am now released.
c) / Long years of poverty, the ling’ring penance | Of which she now so kindly cuts from me.
d) / His final years of pain and poverty: | ‘Tis from the misery of this lingering | Penance, which I am so kindly
released. (/delivered).
133. {Commend me to you honourable wife}
134. {Whether Bassanio had not once a love}
love: a dear friend, friend who loved him
/ Whether Bassanio was not truly loved. / Whether or not Bassanio had been loved.
135. / Have one regret— / Hold one regret— / Regret alone
136. with all my heart: wholeheartedly; with total embrace; implies something done with total love and willingness.
Here Antonio is saying, ‘I’ll pay your debts most willingly, without regret, with love, and wholeheartedly.’
/ I will most willingly give up my life / I will—with all my heart—give up my life
137. {Are not with me esteemed above thy life}
/ Are not with me more dear than is thy life. / Are not so dear to me as is thy life / I do not hold more dearly