Page 7 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

—Antonio
Believe me—no. I thank my fortune for it:
My ventures are not in one vessel° trusted, {bottom}
Nor in one place, nor does my wealth depend° {nor is my whole estate}
Upon the fortune of this present year.
Therefore, my ventures do not make me somber.° {makes me not sad}

—Salanio
Why then, you are in love.

—Antonio Nay, nay! {Fie, fie} / No, no

—Salanio 38
Not in love neither? Then you must be somber 39 / Then say you are sad
Because you are not destined° to be merry; / fated / fashioned / humoured
For ‘twere° as easy now for you to laugh, / ‘Twould be
And leap,° and say that you are merry, only / dance
Because you are not sad. By the two faces
40 41
Of Janus—one which laughs and one which cries—
Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time:° / day
Some that will smile so much their eyes have shut,° 42 / are half-shut
43
And laugh like parrots when all else are crying.° / at a mournful tune 44
45
And others so acerbic° in their mode / others be so gloomy
That they’ll not show their teeth in way of smile,

with a slight improvement in the flow of the text.
38. Previously, Antonio’s sadness was thought to be venture-related, then love-related—both causes of which
Antonio denied. Here Salanio is surmising that Antonio must be sad because it is his nature to be sad. This
philosophical address of Antonio sad nature is repeated later in the scene by Gratziano. It is likely, that in an earlier
draft, Salanio’s words were mouthed by Lorenzo (or possibly Gratziano) and herein transposed (somewhat
imperfectly) to Salanio. Salanio (and Salarino) seem to know a lot about Antonio’s business venture but little about
his sad nature. [See Additional Notes, 1.1.47]
39. / Neither in love? Ah, then you must be sad
40. {Now, by two-headed Janus}
Janus: the Roman god of exits and entrances, who has two faces (not two heads) which looks in opposite
directions; one face is smiling and the other is frowning. One god, having two opposite faces, suggests the singular
root of both comedy and tragedy.
41. / Now, by Janus’s | Two faces, one which laughs and one which cries
/ But here we see | Two sides of Janus—one laughing, one crying
/ But here are Janus’ | Two heads, that face in opposite directions
42. {some that will evermore peep through their eyes}
This line refers to people who smile so much so that their cheek muscles have atrophied and now keep their
eyes half-shut—and now they can only peep through them. The image, akin to the laughing face of Janus, is of a
person smiling so much that it looks as if he is wearing the mask of a smiling face.
/ Some that can barely see through so much smiling / Some that e’er peep through eyes half-shut by smiling
43. laugh like parrots: a) refers to the parrot who by rote response laughs at everything, even a mournful tune.
Hence, laughing like a parrot refers to one who laughs at everything; one who is always laughing. b) implies a loud
screeching laughter rather than the actual laughter of a parrot.
44. {at a bagpiper} The music of a bagpipe was considered woeful, which should bring on tears, not laughter.
45. / And there be others of such gloomy aspect (/sullen mode) / And others of such a vinegary aspect (/ sullen
temperament) / And there be others of such sour mode / And there are others, so sour and tart