The Merchant of Venice

from the book “Stories from Shakespeare” by Anne Collins

There was a merchant, Antonio, who lived in Venice. Everybody liked Antonio because he was a good man.
He had many ships that travelled to other countries. He sold things to people in these other countries, and
bought things from them. At the time of our story, Antonio’s ships were all at sea.
Antonio had many friends, but his dearest friend was called Bassanio. He loved Bassanio very much.
When Bassanio’s father died, he left his son a lot of money. But Bassanio soon spent it all; he became poor
and very unhappy.
Bassanio was in love with Portia, a lady from Belmont, near Venice. Portia’s father died and left her
all his money. So Portia was beautiful and very rich. Bassanio was sad because he had no money. He knew
that many rich young men went to Belmont. They all hoped to marry Portia. So he asked Antonio to lend
him 3,000 gold pieces for the journey.
‘I haven’t any money now,’ replied Antonio. ‘All my money is with my ships at sea. I’m waiting for
them to return.
‘But many people here know me and will lend money to me. I’ll pay it back when my ships return.
Go and find me a money-lender. Then I’ll lend the money to you. You can go to Belmont and marry Portia.’
So Bassanio went to a money-lender. This man’s name was Shylock.
Shylock had a lot of money, but he loved it too much. He lent money to merchants. But they had to
pay him back a lot more money than they borrowed. Antonio didn’t like Shylock’s way of doing business
and Shylock didn’t like Antonio either.
‘Antonio is kind and will lend his money to everyone,’ Shylock thought. ‘People only have to pay
back what they borrowed. He makes things very difficult for me. And he often tells the other merchants that
my way of doing business is wrong. He’s my enemy and I can’t forgive him.’
Bassanio asked Shylock to lend Antonio 3,000 gold pieces for three months. This made Shylock very
happy.
‘Now at last I have a way to catch Antonio,’ he said to himself. ‘I can make things very difficult for
him.’
When Shylock met Antonio, he said to him, ‘You don’t like my way of making money. You’ve often
called me a “dog” in the past. But now you’ve come to me because you need my help. You want me to lend
you money. But what shall I say to you? Does a “dog” have money? Can a “dog” lend a person 3,000 gold
pieces? Shall I lend you money because you called me a “dog”?’
But Antonio wasn’t afraid of Shylock.
‘If you decide to lend me money,’ he replied, ‘don’t lend it to me as a friend. Lend it to me as an
enemy. Then if I can’t pay you back, you can punish me for it.’
‘But I want to be your friend,’ said Shylock. ‘I want to forget what you’ve done to me in the past. I’ll
lend you 3,000 gold pieces and you don’t have to pay me back more than that.’
‘That’s very good of you, Shylock,’ said Bassanio.
Then Shylock laughed and said, ‘But now let’s have a little joke. If you don’t pay me back 3,000
gold pieces at the end of three months, you must give me a pound of your flesh. I’ll cut the flesh from a part
of your body, as I like. Do you agree?’
Antonio thought that this was a good joke. So he laughed and agreed. But Bassanio was afraid and
said, ‘Please don’t agree to this stupid idea of Shylock’s. I don’t want you to borrow money in this way.
Shylock really will do what he says. He really will take your flesh.’
‘Don’t be afraid,’ replied Antonio. ‘My ships will return in two months and bring me plenty of
money.’

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 So Antonio borrowed the money from Shylock and gave it to Bassanio.

Before he died, Portia’s father made a plan. He wanted to be sure that his daughter found a good husband.
‘I’m afraid that a lot of young men will want to marry Portia,’ he thought. ‘They will choose her because
she’s rich. So I shall leave three small boxes – a gold one, a silver one and a lead one. To win Portia, the
man must choose the right box.’
Later, after her father’s death, Portia was sitting with another young lady called Nerissa. Nerissa was
a servant, but she was also a good friend of Portia. They were talking about all the young men who wanted
to marry Portia. Then another servant came into the room.
‘A prince has just arrived from Africa,’ he said.
Portia showed the prince the three boxes. The prince carefully read everything that was written on
each box.
On the gold box were the words, ‘Choose me. You will get what many men want.”
On the silver box were the words, ‘Choose me. You will get what you should get.’
And on the lead box were the words, ‘Choose me. You must give everything that you have.’
‘My picture is inside the right box,’ said Portia. ‘If you choose it, I am yours. Now choose!’
The prince studied the words on all three boxes again. Finally he said, ‘Everybody in the world
wants gold and everybody in the world wants Portia. So the gold box is the right box. Yes, I’ll choose the
gold box.’
Portia gave the prince the key to the gold box and he opened it. But when he saw inside it, he was
very surprised. There was a picture of a dead man.
There was also a piece of paper in the box, and these words were written on the paper:
‘Many things shine brightly but they are not always gold.’
The prince left with a sad heart. But Portia was very pleased to see him go.

Next a French prince came to Belmont. He was very proud, so he chose the silver box. He read the words,
‘Choose me. You will get what you should get.’
‘Fine,’ said this proud prince, ‘I’m a great man, so clearly I should get a beautiful and rich lady like
Portia.’
But when he opened the box, he found a picture inside. It was not a picture of Portia, but the head of
a stupid man, There was also a piece of paper in the box. It said:
‘Many stupid men are covered in silver.’
‘I have been stupid too,’ said the prince, and went away.

Then a servant came to Portia and said, ‘A young man from Venice is on his way here. He wants to try and
win you.’ This young man was, of course, Bassanio.
When Bassanio arrived, he had many servants with him. One of them was called Gratiano. Gratiano
was a servant, but he was also a good friend of Bassanio.
When Portia saw Bassanio, she fell in love with him. Now she became afraid. She didn’t want
Bassanio to choose the wrong box. So she said to him, ‘Please wait a day or two before you choose. If you

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choose the wrong box, I won’t see you again. I can teach you how to choose the right box. But I’ve
promised not to do that.’
‘No, I’m too nervous to wait,’ answered Bassanio. ‘I’ll choose now.’
Bassanio studied the words on the gold and silver boxes carefully. He thought, ‘The gold and silver
boxes seem to promise fine things. But beauty on the outside does not always mean beauty on the inside.
The lead box doesn’t promise anything. It tells me to give, and to be ready to lose everything. Well, I’m
ready to give everything to Portia. So I choose the lead box.’
Portia gave him the key and he opened the lead box. Inside the box was Portia’s picture and a piece
of paper with these words on it:
‘If you are pleased with this, kiss your lady.’
Bassanio was very happy. He turned to Portia and said, ‘Dear lady, have I really won you? Will you
be mine?’
‘Yes, Bassanio,’ replied Portia. ‘I don’t want great things for myself, but for you I’d like a thousand
times richer. Take me, and everything that belongs to me.’
Portia took a ring off her finger and gave it to Bassanio.
‘Take this ring, dear Bassanio,’ she said to him. ‘When you stop wearing it that will be the end of our
love.’
‘I’ll die before anyone takes this ring from my finger!’ cried Bassanio.
As Portia and Bassanio continued to talk about their love, Nerissa and Gratiano came to them.
Nerissa said, ‘We hope that you’ll be very happy in your marriage.’
‘Yes.’ said Gratiano. ‘And Nerissa and I have some wonderful news. We’re going to get married
too.’
As the four happy people were talking about their weddings, a man from Venice arrived with a letter
from Antonio. Bassanio opened the letter and began to read it.
While he was reading the letter, Portia looked at Bassanio’s face. ‘I’m sure that there’s very bad
news in this letter,’ she thought. ‘But what’s happened?’ to Bassanio she said, ‘I’m half of you, so I must
have half of your problems. Tell me what’s in the letter.’
‘Dearest Portia,’ Bassanio replied, ‘this letter brings terrible news.’ Then he read the letter to her:

Dear Bassanio,
My ships are all lost. Now I have no money, so I cannot pay Shylock. I must give him a pound of my
flesh, as we agreed. But if I do that, it will kill me. So please forget about the money that you borrowed from
me. I only want to see you now before I die.
Antonio

‘You must return to Venice immediately,’ said Portia. ‘But first let’s get married. Then I can give
you enough gold to Shylock twenty times. When it is paid, bring Antonio back here with you.’

Portia and Bassanio got married, and Nerissa and Gratiano married too. After the weddings, the two men
hurried back to Venice.
After they left, Portia thought of a clever way to save Antonio. A good friend of hers was a famous
judge. She asked her friend to lend her his judge’s clothes and notes. Then she put on the clothes and
pretended to be a judge. Nerissa also put on men’s clothes and pretended to be the judge’s servant.
Then the two women followed their husbands to Venice.

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

Shylock had a beautiful daughter, Jessica. A good friend of Antonio fell in love with Jessica and ran away
with her. Jessica took some of her father’s money with her.
So Shylock was very angry with Antonio. He ran angrily through the streets of Venice, shouting
loudly about his daughter and his money. Small boys followed him and laughed at him.
When Shylock heard the news about Antonio’s ships, he was very pleased.
‘Good. Antonio’s ships are lost at sea,’ he thought. ‘Now at last I can kill my enemy.’
He went to see Antonio. A man was just taking him to prison.
‘Guard him well,’ Shylock said to his man.
‘Please, Shylock, I’d like to talk to you,’ began Antonio. But Shylock refused to listen.
‘Don’t speak to me, Antonio,’ he said. ‘I won’t forgive you. You called me a “dog”, so now I’ll act
like a dog. I won’t show you any mercy; I’ll take my pound of flesh from you.’
‘He hates me and he really wants to kill me,’ thought Antonio. ‘I won’t try to speak to him again. I
only want one thing now. I want to see Bassanio before I die.’

Antonio was taken to court, and the Duke of Venice took his seat as judge. The duke felt very sorry for
Antonio. When Shylock came in, he said, ‘Please, Shylock, show mercy.’
‘Never,’ replied Shylock. ‘The pound of flesh is mine by law and I want it. Antonio is my enemy and
I hate him.’
‘Does everyone kill the things that they hate?’ asked Bassanio.
‘Don’t try to talk to Shylock,’ said Antonio sadly. ‘He doesn’t want to listen. Please be quick and
judge me. Give Shylock what he wants.’
‘I’ll pay you 6,000 gold pieces for the 3,000 that Antonio borrowed,’ said Bassanio.
‘If you offer me six times that amount of money,’ said Shylock, I’ll still take my pound of flesh.
Give me my pound of flesh!’
‘How can you hope for mercy for yourself when you show no mercy to Antonio?’ asked the duke.
‘I’m not afraid. I’ve done nothing wrong,’ said Shylock.
The duke didn’t know what to do. Then a young man came into the room and gave the duke a letter.
The young man was really Nerissa. But nobody knew her because she was dressed like a man.
‘Sir, a young judge has just arrived from Padua,’ she said. ‘A friend of yours has sent him to judge
Antonio and Shylock. This letter explains everything.’
The duke read the letter and said, ‘Ask him to come in.’
The young judge came into the room. It was really Portia, wearing the clothes of a judge. But nobody
knew her.
As she sat down, the duke asked, ‘Do you know what’s happened here?’
‘Yes,’ said Portia. ‘Where are Antonio and Shylock?’
‘Here,’ said the duke.
Portia looked at the two men. Then she said, ‘Shylock has the law of Venice behind him. So he must
show mercy to Antonio.’
‘Why must I show mercy?’ asked Shylock. ‘Tell me.’

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 ‘Because mercy is a wonderful thing,’ replied Portia. ‘It falls like soft rain from the sky on to the
earth. It brings good things to the person who gives it. Kings have mercy in their hearts, and we should show
mercy to other people. So, Shylock, do you still want your pound of flesh?’
‘Yes!’ answered Shylock. ‘I want what is mine by law!’
Then Bassanio said, ‘I’d offer Shylock ten times the amount of money that Antonio has borrowed. If
this isn’t enough for him, please change the law. Please change it and save Antonio.’
‘No,’ replied Portia. ‘If we change one law, then people will want to change other laws. We can’t do
that.’
‘Oh, wise young judge!’ cried Shylock.
‘Can I see the paper that Antonio signed?’ asked Portia. ‘I want to see his promise to Shylock – his
promise to give Shylock a pound of flesh.’
Portia read the paper and said, ‘Yes, Shylock was right. By law he can take a pound of Antonio’s
flesh. He can cut the flesh from the place near Antonio’s heart. Shylock, show some mercy. Take three times
the amount of money. Tell me to destroy this paper.’
‘No,’ said Shylock, ‘I want my pound of flesh.’
‘Then Antonio must prepare himself for the knife.’
‘Oh, wise young judge!’ cried Shylock again.
‘Do you want to say anything?’ Portia asked Antonio.
‘Only a few words,’ replied Antonio. ‘Bassanio, my dearest friend, goodbye. Don’t be sad for me.
Tell your wife about me. Tell her how much I loved you. If Shylock cuts deeply, I’ll pay him with all my
heart.’
‘I love my wife very much,’ said Bassanio sadly. ‘But your life means more to me than my wife and
everything in the world. I’ll happily lose my wife to save you.’
‘It’s good that your wife isn’t here now,’ said Portia.
Then Gratiano said, ‘I too love my wife very much. But if it can save Antonio, I’ll lose her too.’
When she heard this, Nerissa laughed quietly. ‘If you say those things in front of your wife,’ she said
to Gratiano, ‘you’ll have a lot of problems at home.’
‘Let’s hurry!’ said Shylock impatiently.
‘Take your pound of flesh,’ said Portia. ‘It’s yours by law. This court gives you permission to take
it.’
As Shylock moved towards Antonio, Portia spoke again.
‘Wait!’ she said. ‘There’s one more thing. In this paper, Antonio promised to give you a pound of
flesh. So you can take a pound of flesh. But there’s nothing in the paper about blood. He didn’t promise to
give you any blood. So if one drop of his blood falls, you’ll lose your land and your money.’
‘Oh, wise young judge!’ cried Gratiano.
‘Is that really the law?’ asked Shylock.
‘Yes,’ replied Portia. ‘Now you’ve got what you wanted, Shylock. You’ve got more than you
wanted.’
Shylock was very angry. But he knew that he couldn’t win. ‘If I cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh,
he’ll lose a lot of blood,’ he thought. ‘What shall I do?’ Finally he said, ‘All right, I’ll take the money. Give
me three times the amount that Antonio borrowed from me.’
‘Here it is!’ cried Bassanio happily. ‘Take it!’
But Portia stopped him. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Shylock didn’t want the money before. He only wanted his
pound of flesh.’
‘But I’ve changed my mind,’ said Shylock. ‘I don’t want his flesh now.’
He turned to leave the court.

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 ‘Wait, Shylock,’ said Portia. ‘When someone tries to kill a person from Venice, he must give all his
money away. He must give one half of his money to the state of Venice. The other half must go to the
person that he tried to kill. And the duke must decide if he lives or not. This is the law. So now you must ask
the duke for mercy.’
‘Kill me, then,’ said Shylock. ‘If you take my money, you also take my life.’
‘I don’t want Shylock’s money,’ said Antonio. ‘But he must promise to leave his money to his
daughter, Jessica, and her husband when he dies.’
‘Good,’ said the duke. ‘Do you promise, Shylock? Will you sign this paper?’
‘Yes, yes!’ said Shylock. ‘I’ll sign. But please, I must go home now. I’m not well.’
The duke agreed and Shylock left the court.

Antonio and Bassanio were very grateful to Portia. They tried to give her money, but Portia refused to take
it.
‘Dear sir,’ said Bassanio. ‘Please take something to remember us. We want to thank you.’
Then Portia had an idea. She decided to play a joke on Bassanio. So she pretended to notice a ring on
his finger. It was the ring that she gave him.
‘That’s a beautiful ring,’ she said. ‘Please give it to me. It’s the only thing I want from you.’
Bassanio remembered his promise to Portia about the ring. ‘What will Portia say?’ he thought. ‘She
wants me to wear this ring for ever. I can’t give it to this young judge.’
‘I’ll buy you the best ring in Venice,’ he said to Portia, ‘but I can’t give you this ring. It’s very
special. My wife gave it to me. I mustn’t sell it, or give it away, or lose it.’
‘I understand,’ said Portia. ‘You don’t want me to have the ring. All right, then. Goodbye!’
She began to walk away.
‘Bassanio, please give the judge the ring,’ said Antonio. ‘He did a lot for us today. He saved my life.’
Bassanio thought about this. He knew that Antonio was right. So he told Gratiano to take the ring to
Portia. She was very pleased with it and thanked Gratiano.
Gratiano met Nerissa again. She was still dressed as a man, so he didn’t know her. Nerissa decided to
play a joke on her husband too. Gratiano also had a ring from his wife. Now Nerissa, too, got this ring back
from her husband.

Portia and Nerissa returned to Belmont, and Bassanio and Antonio arrived soon after them.
Bassanio introduced Antonio to Portia and told her about the wise young judge. As they were
talking, Nerissa began to cry.
‘What’s the matter?’ Portia asked her.
‘Gratiano has given away the ring that I gave him,’ replied Nerissa. ‘He gave it to a young man.’
‘The young man was the servant of the wise young judge,’ said Gratiano. ‘He was only a boy.’
‘You were wrong to give the ring away, Gratiano,’ said Portia. ‘You promised Nerissa to wear it for
ever. I also gave my husband a ring. I know that he’ll never give that away.’
‘But Bassanio gave his ring away too,’ said Gratiano. ‘He gave his ring to the clever young judge.
Then the boy, the judge’s servant, wanted my ring. What would I do?’
Portia spoke angrily to Bassanio. ‘You’ve broken your promise to me!’ she cried. ‘I’ll never love you
again!’

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 ‘You don’t understand, Portia,’ said Bassanio. ‘I didn’t want to give the ring to the judge, but I had
to. He saved the life of my dearest friend. I offered him 3,000 gold pieces but he didn’t want it. He only
wanted this ring.’
‘Please forgive Bassanio,’ said Antonio. ‘The young judge saved my life. I promise you that
Bassanio will always be a good husband to you.’
‘Then,’ said Portia, taking out a ring, ‘give him this ring. Tell him to look after it better than the other
one.’
Bassanio looked at the ring. ‘But it’s the same ring!’ he cried. ‘I gave this ring to the young judge. I
don’t understand. What does this mean?’
‘It means,’ said Portia, ‘that I was the young judge. And here’s that young boy, my servant. It was
Nerissa.’
Bassanio and Gratiano were very surprised. At first they couldn’t speak. They couldn’t believe
Portia’s story.
Portia had other news. She gave a letter to Antonio. In the letter was information about three of his
ships. They weren’t lost at sea; they were safe in Venice.
‘This is wonderful news!’ cried Antonio. ‘Now I can live happily again!’
‘It’s almost morning, said Portia. ‘Let’s go inside and talk there.’
‘Yes,’ said Gratiano. ‘Come, young servant of the judge – or would you like to be my wife now?’

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