The Merchant of Venice (The Jew of Venice) · chunk 32 of 39
Shakespeare, William · published 1600 · first performed or written 1596 [1596-1598] (Annals) comedy · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men T1 Death, grief and revenge typicality 0.67 · 488 words
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T1: death, life, dead, die, blood, revenge, soul, father, heart, heaven.
And you must cut this flesh from off his breast, the law allows it, and the court awards it. Most learned judge, a sentence, come prepare. Tarry a little, there is some thing else, this bond doth give thee here no jot of blood, the words expressly are a pound of flesh: take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh, but in the cutting it, if thou dost shed one drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods are by the laws of Venice confiscate unto the state of Venice. O upright judge, Mark Iew, o learned judge. Is that the law? Thyself shalt see the Act: for as thou urgest justice, be assured thou shalt have justice more than thou desirest. O learned judge, mark Iew, a learned judge. I take this offer then, pay the bond thrice and let the Christian go. here is the money. Soft, the Iew shall have all justice, soft no haste, he shall have nothing but the penalty. O Iew, an upright judge, a learned judge. Therefore prepare thee to cut of the flesh, Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more but just a pound of flesh: if thou tak'st more or less than a just pound, be it but so much as makes it light of heavy in the substance, or the division of the twentieth part of one poor scruple, nay if the scale do turn but in the estimation of a hair, thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate. A second Daniel, a Daniel Iew, now infidel I have you on the hip. Why doth the Iew pause, take thy forfeiture. Give me my principal, and let me go. I have it ready for thee, here it is. He hath refused it in the open Court, he shall have merely justice and his bond. A Daniel still say I, a second Daniel, I thank thee Iew for teaching me that word. Shall I not have barely my principal? Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture to be so taken at thy peril Iew. Why then the devil give him good of it: I'll stay no longer question. Tarry Iew, the law hath yet another hold on you. It is enacted in the laws of Venice, if it be proved against an alien, that by direct, or indirect attempts he seek the life of any Citizen, the party 'gainst the which he doth contrive, shall seize one half his goods, the other halfe comes to the privy cofler of the State, and the offender's life lies in the mercy of the Duke only, 'gainst all other voice. In which predicament I say thou stand'st: for it appears by manifest proceeding, that indirectly, and directly to thou hast contrived against the very life of the defendant: and thou hast incurred the danger formorly by me rehearsed. Down therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke.
nodes 1407–1471 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 32 of 39 in this edition
Length
488 words · 612 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T1 — Death, grief and revengecross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.669 (cosine to the topic centroid)
Other seeds
seed 43: unassigned · seed 44: unassigned — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
And you muſt cut this fleſh from off his breaſt, the law alowes it, and the court awards it. Moſt learned Iudge, a ſentence, come prepare. Tarry a little, there is ſome thing elſe, this bond doth giue thee heere no iote of blood, the words expreſly are a pound of fleſh: take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of fleſh, but in the cutting it, if thou dooſt ſhed one drop of Chriſtian blood, thy lands and goods are by the lawes of Venice confiſcate vnto the ſtate of Venice. O vpright Iudge, Marke Iew, ô learned Iudge. Is that the law? Thy ſelfe ſhalt ſee the Act: for as thou vrgeſt iuſtice, be aſſurd thou ſhalt haue iuſtice more then thou deſirſt. O learned iudge, mark Iew, a learned iudge. I take this offer then, pay the bond thrice and let the Chriſtian goe. Heere is the money. Soft, the Iew ſhal haue all iuſtice, ſoft no haſt, he ſhall haue nothing but the penalty. O Iew, an vpright Iudge, a learned Iudge. Therefore prepare thee to cut of the fleſh, Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou leſſe nor more but iuſt a pound of fleſh: if thou tak'ſt more or leſſe then a iuſt pound, be it but ſo much as makes it light of heauy in the ſubſtance, or the deuiſion of the twentith part of one poore ſcruple, nay if the ſcale doe turne but in the eſtimation of a hayre, thou dyeſt, and all thy goods are confiſcate. A ſecond Daniell, a Daniell Iew, now infidell I haue you on the hip. Why doth the Iew pauſe, take thy forfaiture. Giue me my principall, and let me goe. I haue it ready for thee, here it is. Hee hath refuſd it in the open Court, hee ſhall haue meerely iuſtice and his bond. A Daniell ſtill ſay I, a ſecond Daniell, I thanke thee Iew for teaching me that word. Shall I not haue barely my principall? Thou ſhalt haue nothing but the forfaiture to be ſo taken at thy perrill Iew. Why then the deuill giue him good of it: Ile ſtay no longer queſtion. Tarry Iew, the law hath yet another hold on you. It is enacted in the lawes of Venice, if it be proued againſt an alien, that by direct, or indirect attempts he ſeeke the life of any Citizen, the party gainſt the which he doth contriue, ſhall ſeaze one halfe his goods, the other halfe comes to the priuie cofler of the State, and the offenders life lies in the mercy of the Duke onely, gainſt all other voyce. In which predicament I ſay thou ſtandſt: for it appeares by manifeſt proceeding, that indirectly, and directly to thou haſt contriued againſt the very life of the defendant: and thou haſt incurd the danger formorly by me rehearſt. Downe therefore, and beg mercie of the Duke.