Part 38 (2/2)

Shakespeare was only fifty-two when he died. It was in the springtime of 1616 that he died, breathing his last upon

”The uncertain glory of an April day Which now shows all the beauty of the sun And by and by a cloud takes all away.”*

*Two Gentlemen of Verona.

He was buried in Stratford Parish Church, and on his grave was placed a bust of the poet. That bust and an engraving in the beginning of the first great edition of his works are the only two real portraits of Shakespeare. Both were done after his death, and yet perhaps there is no face more well known to us than that of the greatest of all poets.

Beneath the bust are written these lines:

”Stay, pa.s.senger, why goest thou by so fast?

Read, if thou-canst, whom envious Death hath plast Within this monument; Shakespeare with whome Quick nature dide: whose name doth deck ys tombe, Far more than cost, sith all yt he hath writt, Leaves living art but page to serve his witt.”

Upon a slab over the grave is carved:

”Good frend, for Jesus' sake forbeare To digg the dust encloased heare; Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones, And curst be he yt moves my bones.”

And so our greatest poet lies not beneath the great arch of Westminster but in the quiet church of the little country town in which he was born.

Chapter LXVII SHAKESPEARE--”THE MERCHANT OF VENICE”

IN this chapter I am going to tell you in a few words the story of one of Shakespeare's plays called The Merchant of Venice. It is founded on an Italian story, one of a collection made by Ser Giovanni Fiorentino.

The merchant of Venice was a rich young man called Antonio. When the story opens he had ventured all his money in trading expeditions to the East and other lands. In two months' time he expects the return of his s.h.i.+ps and hopes then to make a great deal of money. But meantime he has none to spare, and when his great friend Ba.s.sanio comes to borrow of him he cannot give him any.

Ba.s.sanio's need is urgent, for he loves the beautiful lady Portia and desires to marry her. This lady was so lovely and so rich that her fame had spread over all the world till ”the four winds blow in from every coast renowned suitors.” Ba.s.sanio would be among these suitors, but alas he has no money, not even enough to pay for the journey to Belmont where the lovely lady lived. Yet if he wait two months until Antonio's s.h.i.+ps return it may be too late, and Portia may be married to another. So to supply his friend's need Antonio decides to borrow the money, and soon a Jew named Shylock is found who is willing to lend it. For Shylock was a money-lender. He lent money to people who had need of it and charged them interest. That is, besides having to pay back the full sum they had borrowed they had also to pay some extra money in return for the loan.

In those days Jews were ill-treated and despised, and there was great hatred between them and Christians. And Shylock especially hated Antonio, because not only did he rail against Jews and insult them, but he also lent money without demanding interest, thereby spoiling Shylock's trade. So now the Jew lays a trap for Antonio, hoping to catch him and be revenged upon his enemy. He will lend the money, he says, and he will charge no interest, but if the loan be not repaid in three months Antonio must pay as forfeit a pound of his own flesh, which Shylock may cut from any part of his body that he chooses.

To this strange bargain Antonio consents. It is but a jest, he thinks.

”Content in faith, I'll seal to such a bond, And say, there is much kindness in the Jew.”

But Ba.s.sanio is uneasy. ”I like not fair terms,” he says, ”and a villain mind. You shall not seal to such a bond for me.” But Antonio insists and the bond is sealed.

All being settled, Ba.s.sanio receives the money, and before he sets off to woo his lady he gives a supper to all his friends, to which he also invites Shylock. Shylock goes to this supper although to his daughter Jessica he says,

”But wherefore should I go?

I am not bid for love; they flatter me: But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon The prodigal Christian.”

But Jessica does not join her father in his hatred of all Christians. She indeed has given her heart to one of the hated race, and well knowing that her father will never allow her to marry him, she, that night while he is at supper with Ba.s.sanio, dresses herself in boy's clothes and steals away, taking with her a great quant.i.ty of jewels and money.

When Shylock discovers his loss he is mad with grief and rage.

He runs about the streets crying for justice.

”Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter!

A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, Of double ducats stol'n from me by my daughter!”

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