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man; and though I say it, it is though this old man, this poor man, my father—

—Bassanio
Let one but speak for both. [to Launcelet] What do you want?° 52 {What would you}

—Launcelet
To serve you, sir.

—Old Gobbo
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That is the very defect of the matter, sir.

—Bassanio [to Launcelet]
I know thee well. Thou hast obtained thy suit.° / I shall grant thy request
Shylock, thy master, spoke with me this day, 54
And recommended thee. But why prefer 55
To leave a rich Jew’s service to become
The follower of so poor a gentleman? 56

—Launcelet
57
As the old proverb says, ‘The grace of God provides enough.’ This very well divides my
master Shylock from you, sir: you have the ‘grace of God,’ sir, and he hath ‘enough.’ 58

—Bassanio
Thou speakst it well—[to Old Gobbo] Go, father, with thy son.

51. {though I say it, though old man, yet poor man, my father} / though I say it, it is though jsaid byk this old yet
poor man, my father.
52. / What would you want of me?
53. Mistake for effect, purpose, or purport
54. Bassanio is referring to an unlikely conversation had between himself and Shylock—which the audience did not
see. Perhaps it came when Bassanio came to borrow money from Shylock and opened the conversation with some
idle chit-chat. Shylock may have casually complained about his ‘unthrifty knave,’ and may have said something to
Bssanio like, ‘if you borrow all this money, maybe you will have enough to employ my servant as your own.’ (Or
perhaps Shylock wanted to pawn off his gormandizing servant to help “eat away” at the money he loaned to
Bassanio, which would hasten the default of the loan). We do not, however, know what Shylock could have said
about Launcelet which would prompt Bassanio to so readily accept him—unless it could be that Shylock, wanting to
get rid of Launcelet, highly recommended his wasteful servant to Bassanio. Shylock mentioned (to Bassanio and
Antonio) that his house was left in the fearful guard | Of an unthrifty knave [1.3.172-73], which was not a flattering
way to describe is servant—and certainly would not prompt Bassanio to say, ‘he hath preferred (recommended)
thee.’
55. {And has preferred thee, if it be preferment}
Alt: this one line could be replaced with three lines—lines which express that Shylock wanted so much to get rid of
Launcelet that we would pay Bassanio to take the fool.
And recommended you, +and was so kind | To offer me some gold if I would take you., | Tell me, is this a
change that you prefer?
56. / The lowly servant of a poor gentleman
57. The old proverb is: ‘The grace of God is gear enough,’ which comes from the biblical passage: ‘My grace is
sufficient for thee.’ [2 Cor. 12:9]
/ The grace of God is well enough / The grace of God provides enough / The grace of God provides you with all
you need.
58. {The old proverb is very well parted between my master Shylock and you, sir: you have the grace of God, sir,
and he hath enough.}