Shylock's rebuke from The Merchant Of Venice by Shakespeare

recited by Frank Burbeck

Victor 17163

1912

Spoken by Shylock, Act 1, Scene 3

Signior Antonio, many a time and oft
In the Rialto you have rated me
About my moneys and my usances:
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine,
And all for use of that which is mine own.
Well then, it now appears you need my help:
Go to, then; you come to me, and you say
‘Shylock, we would have moneys:’ you say so;
You, that did void your rheum upon my beard
And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur
Over your threshold: moneys is your suit
What should I say to you? Should I not say
‘Hath a dog money? is it possible
A cur can lend three thousand ducats?’ Or
Shall I bend low and in a bondman’s key,
With bated breath and whispering humbleness, Say this;
‘Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
You spurn’d me such a day; another time
You call’d me dog; and for these courtesies
I’ll lend you thus much moneys’?

Bassanio wants money so he can woo Portia.

Bassanio turns to his friend Antonio for a loan.

Antonio has invested his own money in ships and cannot furnish his friend with money, so he goes to Shylock for a loan. Shylock is Jewish. The others are Christian.

Shylock is bitter that he is asked for money after being badly treated by Antonio in the past.