The Jew of Malta

is the market-place, here let ’em stand:

Fear not their sale, for they’ll be quickly bought.

Second Officer

Every one’s price is written on his back,

And so much must they yield, or not be sold.



First Officer

Here comes the Jew; had not his goods been seized,

He’d give us present money for them all.




Enter Barabas.


Barabas

In spite of these swine-eating Christians⁠—

Unchosen nation, never circumcised,

Such as (poor villains!) such were ne’er thought upon

Till Titus and Vespasian conquered us⁠—

Am I become as wealthy as I was:

They hoped my daughter would ha’ been a nun;

But she’s at home, and I have bought a house

As great and fair as is the governor’s;

And there, in spite of Malta, will I dwell,

Having Ferneze’s hand; whose heart I’ll have,

Ay, and his son’s too, or it shall go hard.

I am not of the tribe of Levi, I,

That can so soon forget an injury.

We Jews can fawn like spaniels when we please:

And when we grin we bite; yet are our looks

As innocent and harmless as a lamb’s.

I learned in Florence how to kiss my hand,

Heave up my shoulders when they call me dog, 34

And duck as low as any barefoot friar;

Hoping to see them starve upon a stall,

Or else be gathered for in our synagogue,

That, when the offering-basin comes to me,

Even for charity I may spit into’t.⁠—

Here comes Don Lodowick, the governor’s son,

One that I love for his good father’s sake.




Enter Lodowick.


Lodowick

I hear the wealthy Jew walked this way:

I’ll seek him out, and so insinuate,

That I may have a sight of Abigail;

For Don Mathias tells me she is fair.



Barabas

Now will I show myself

To have more of the serpent than the dove;

That is, more knave than fool. Aside.



Lodowick

Yond’ walks the Jew; now for fair Abigail.



Barabas

Ay, ay, no doubt but she’s at your command. Aside.



Lodowick

Barabas, thou know’st I am the governor’s son.



Barabas

I would you were his father, too, sir;

That’s all the harm I wish you.⁠—The slave looks

Like a hog’s cheek new singed. Aside.



Lodowick

Whither walk’st thou, Barabas?



Barabas

No further: ’tis a custom held with us,

That when we speak with Gentiles like to you,

We turn into the air to purge ourselves:

For unto us the promise doth belong.



Lodowick

Well, Barabas, canst help me to a diamond?



Barabas

O, sir, your father had my diamonds.

Yet I have one left that will serve your turn:⁠—

I mean my daughter: but ere he shall have her

I’ll sacrifice her on a pile of wood.

I ha’ the poison of the city for him,

And the white leprosy. Aside.



Lodowick

What sparkle does it give without a foil?



Barabas

The diamond that I talk of ne’er was foiled:⁠— 35

But, when he touches it, it will be foiled. Aside.

Lord Lodowick, it sparkles bright and fair.



Lodowick

Is it square or pointed? pray, let me know.



Barabas

Pointed it is, good sir⁠—but not for you. Aside.



Lodowick

I like it much the better.



Barabas

So do I too.



Lodowick

How shows it by night?



Barabas

Outshines Cynthia’s rays:

You’ll like it better far o’ nights than days. Aside.



Lodowick

And what’s the price?



Barabas

Your life, an if you have it. Aside. O my lord,

We will not jar about the price; come to my house

And I will give’t your honour⁠—with a vengeance. Aside.



Lodowick

No, Barabas, I will deserve it first.



Barabas

Good sir,

Your father has deserved it at my hands,

Who, of mere charity and Christian truth,

To bring me to religious purity,

And as it were in catechising sort,

To make me mindful of my mortal sins,

Against my will, and whether I would or no,

Seized all I had, and thrust me out o’ doors,

And made my house a place for nuns most chaste.



Lodowick

No doubt your soul shall reap the fruit of it.



Barabas

Ay, but, my lord, the harvest is far off.

And yet I know the prayers of those nuns

And holy friars, having money for their pains,

Are wondrous;⁠—and indeed do no man good: Aside.

And seeing they are not idle, but still doing,

’Tis likely they in time may reap some fruit,

I mean in fullness of perfection.



Lodowick

Good Barabas, glance not at our holy nuns



Barabas

No, but I do it through a burning zeal⁠—

Hoping ere long to set the house afire;

For though they do a while increase and multiply,

I’ll have a saying to that nunnery. Aside.

As for the diamond, sir, I told you of,

Come home, and there’s no price shall make us part,

Even for your honourable father’s sake⁠—

It shall go hard but I will see your death. Aside.

But now I must be gone to buy a slave.



Lodowick

And, Barabas, I’ll bear thee company.



Barabas

Come, then⁠—here’s the market-place.⁠—

What’s the price of this slave? Two hundred crowns!

Do the Turks weigh so much?



First Officer

Sir, that’s his price.



Barabas

What, can he steal, that you demand so much?

Belike he has some new trick for a purse;

An if he has, he is worth three hundred plates, 36

So that, being bought, the town-seal might be got

To keep him for his lifetime from the gallows:

The sessions day is critical to thieves,

And few or none ’scape but by being purged.



Lodowick

Rat’st thou this Moor but at two hundred plates?



First Officer

No more, my lord.



Barabas

Why should this Turk be dearer than that Moor?



First Officer

Because he is young, and has more qualities.



Barabas

What, hast the philosopher’s stone? an thou hast, break my head with it, I’ll forgive thee.



Slave

No, sir; I can cut and shave



Barabas

Let me see, sirrah; are you not an old shaver?



Slave

Alas, sir, I am a very youth.



Barabas

A youth! I’ll buy you, and marry you to Lady Vanity, 37 if you do well.



Slave

I will serve you, sir.



Barabas

Some wicked trick or other. It may be, under colour of shaving, thou’lt cut my throat for my goods. Tell me, hast thou thy health well?



Slave