92 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

him. Shylock submitted to all these indignities with a patient shrug ;
but deep in his heart he cherished a desire for revenge on the rich, smug
merchant. For Antonio both hurt his pride and injured his business.
“But for him,” thought Shylock, “I should be richer by half a million
ducats. On the market place, and wherever he can, he denounces the
vate of interest I charge, and—worse than that—he lends out: money
freely.”

So when Bassanio came to him to ask for a loan of three thousand
ducats to Antonio for three months, Shylock hid his hatred, and turning
to Antonio, said—‘ Harshly as you have treated me, I would be friends
with you and have your love. So I will lend you the money and
charge you no interest. But, just for fun, you shall sign a bond in
which it shall be agreed that if you do not repay me in three months’
time, then I shall have the right to a pound of your flesh, to be cut
from what part of your body I choose.”

‘‘No,” cried Bassanio to his friend, “you shall run no such risk for me.”

2 ie “Why, fear not,” said Antonio, “my ships
» will be home a month before the time. I will
,, sign the bond.”
v Thus Bassanio was furnished with the means
to go to Belmont, there to woo the lovely
Portia. The very night he started, the
Jew’s pretty daughter, Jessica, ran away
from her father’s house with a Christian
lover, and she took with her from her
father’s hoards some bags of ducats and
precious stones. Shylock’s grief and
anger were terrible to see. His love
for her changed to hate. ‘I would she
were dead at my feet and the jewels
in her ear,” he cried. His only comfort
* now was in hearing of the serious losses
which had befallen Antonio, some of
whose ships were wrecked. ‘Let him
look to his bond,” said Shylock, “let
him look to his bond.”