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Though stern-browed Nestor swear the jest be funny. 46

Enter Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Gratziano.

Here comes Bassanio, your most favored° friend,° / dearest of friends {most noble kinsman}
With Gratziano and Lorenzo. Farewell,
We leave you now with better company.

—Salarino
I° would have stayed until I° made you merry, / we
If worthier friends had not prevented me.° / us

—Antonio
+Nay Salarino—and my friend Salanio—, 47
Your worth is very dear in my regard.° / esteem
I take it your own business calls you,
And you embrace th’occasion° to depart. / the moment

—Salarino [to those approaching]
Good morrow, my good lords.° / Good day, good gentlemen

—Bassanio [also in greeting]
Good signors both, when shall we laugh? Say when?
You’ve become strangers. Must it be that way? 48

—Salanio 49
50
We’ll make our leisure time° fit in with° yours. {leisures} / free time {to attend on}

—Lorenzo
My friend° Bassanio, here° you have found Antonio. {lord} {since}

46. {Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable}
Nestor: a Greek officer of the Iliad, famous for his soberness and gravity.
/ Not even at a jest that able to rouse | Stern-browèd Nestor to rambunctious laughter.
/ Not even at a joke that could bestir | The somber Nestor into drunken laughter.
/ E’en at a jest that would rouse stern-browèd | Nestor into a most rambunctious laughter.
47. The name of these two characters, Salarino and Salanio, are never mentioned in the play even though it is
customary to name a character upon his entrance or during the first scene in which he appears. The failure to ever
mention the names of these minor but significant characters may be because these they were not conceived as part of
the original draft but added as part of a later draft. Thus, throughout the play, these two characters remain nameless.
To rectify this omission, a line which includes both their names, could be added here.
48. {You grow exceedingly strange. Must it be so?}
exceedingly strange: (a) like strangers, (b) strange in your ways, i.e, too reserved, too serious, not willing to get
together for a laugh.
Must it be so?: (a) i.e., it should not be that way and we must do something about it—such as get together for a
laugh. (b) must you be so serious and not willing to laugh with us.
49. In Q1 the speech heading reads Sal. which is most often attributed to Salarino. Due to the confusion in
abbreviations found in Q1, and because Salarino and Salanio often talk in tandem, this line is attributed to Salanio.
50. This exchange seems more of a gratuitous gesture than an actual intention to get together. We sense a cordial
distance between Bassanio and Salarino-Salanio, as they all seek Antonio’s attention. Bassanio may view the Sals as
fans, supporters, and ‘lesser friends’ of Antonio.