Page 31 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

I had forgot—three months. [to Bassanio] You told me so. 34
Well then, your bond. And let me see. . . ° But hear you: / and now the rate
Methought° you said you neither lend nor borrow / I thought
On sums that bear interest.° {upon advantage}

—Antonio I never do.° {I never use it}
> engage in such activity
—Shylock
When Jacob grazed° his uncle Laban’s sheep / tended
He then was third in line from Abraham— 35
This, his wise mother, had deftly arranged; {wrought in his behalf}
The third possessor—ay, he was the third.° 36 / and so he was.

—Antonio
And what of it°? Did he take interest? {him}

—Shylock
No, not directly—hear what Jacob did:
He first agreed with Laban, that for earnings,° / payment
He could have° all the sheep born marked° or spotted. / He would receive {pied}
‘Tis known,° whatever a ewe sees when mating 37 / Now then
That’s what her newborn will come to resemble.°
Autumn° had come; it was the time for breeding. / The fall
So Jacob peeled off the bark from some sticks
And when the work of generations was
Between these wooly breeders in the act
He put the branches in front of the ewes.
In spring they conceived lambs that were spotted

34. Shylock definitely did not forget that the term of the bond was for three months. He is playing a game of
positioning, perhaps wanting to appear rather nonchalant and not entirely focused on the details of the bond; or he
may want to appear somewhat playful and chummy with Bassanio to gain positioning on Antonio. (How Bassanio
comes to find Shylock in the first place is not known. What is clear is that Antonio, even out of love for Bassanio,
would never has ‘stooped so low’ as to approach Shylock on his own accord.)
35. Abram: Abraham. The Author uses the original name, Abram, which means ‘exalted father’ rather than
Abraham which means, ‘father of many nations,’ because the biblical account he refers to uses the name Abram, not
Abraham. Abram received the name Abraham from God when he was 99 years old.
36. {This Jacob from our holy Abram was, | As his wise mother wrought in his behalf, | The third possessor; ay, he
was the third}
Jacob was made third in line through the cleverness (and deception) of his mother, Rebecca, who
substituted Jacob (for Esau, her elder son) so that Jacob would received Isaac’s blessing and inheritance (making him
third in line from Abraham) rather than Esau, who rightly deserved it. (This deception is what Shylock calls a ‘wise’
action.) Shylock is thus justifying his deceptive practice of usury by citing a Biblical precedence of deception.
Shylock then goes on to tell how Jacob deceived Laban and thereby prospered. Both stories are taken out of context,
and Shylock is herein using Biblical passages to justify his deceptive practice of usury, which he calls ‘thrift’ and
‘blessing.’ Antonio does not accept this explanation; to the contrary, he is appalled at the way Shylock misquotes,
and abuses scripture in support of his own immoral practices. [See Additional Note, 1.3.71]
37. / He first agreed with Laban that all sheep
Found pied or spotted,° Jacob, for his earnings, / born with streaks or spots
Could keep. What e’er a ewe sees when she mates