Scene + 

III + 

Enter Officers, with Ithamore and other Slaves. + 

First Officer + 

This 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, + 

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:⁠— + 

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, + 

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, 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 + 

Ay, passing well. + 

Barabas + 

So much the worse; I must have one that’s sickly, an’t be but for sparing victuals: ’tis not a stone of beef a day will maintain you in these chops; let me see one that’s somewhat leaner. + 

First Officer + 

Here’s a leaner, how like you him? + 

Barabas + 

Where wast thou born? + 

Ithamore + 

In Thrace; brought up in Arabia. + 

Barabas + 

So much the better, thou art for my turn. + 

An hundred crowns? I’ll have him; there’s the coin. Gives money. + 

First Officer + 

Then mark him, sir, and take him hence. + 

Barabas + 

Ay, mark him, you were best, for this is he + 

That by my help shall do much villany. Aside. + 

My lord, farewell: Come, sirrah; you are mine. + 

As for the diamond, it shall be yours; + 

I pray, sir, be no stranger at my house, + 

All that I have shall be at your command. + 

Enter Mathias and his mother Katharine. + 

Mathias + 

What make the Jew and Lodowick so private? + 

I fear me ’tis about fair Abigail. Aside. + 

Barabas + 

Yonder comes Don Mathias; let us stay; + 

Exit Lodowick. + 

He loves my daughter, and she holds him dear: + 

But I have sworn to frustrate both their hopes, + 

And be revenged upon the governor. + 

Katharine + 

This Moor is comeliest, is he not? speak, son. + 

Mathias + 

No, this is the better, mother, view this well. + 

Barabas + 

Seem not to know me here before your mother, + 

Lest she mistrust the match that is in hand: + 

When you have brought her home, come to my house; + 

Think of me as thy father; son, farewell. + 

Mathias + 

But wherefore talked Don Lodowick with you? + 

Barabas + 

Tush, man! we talked of diamonds, not of Abigail. + 

Katharine + 

Tell me, Mathias, is not that the Jew? + 

Barabas + 

As for the comment on the Maccabees, + 

I have it, sir, and ’tis at your command. + 

Mathias + 

Yes, madam, and my talk with him was but + 

About the borrowing of a book or two. + 

Katharine + 

Converse not with him, he is cast off from heaven. + 

Thou hast thy crowns, fellow; come, let’s away. + 

Mathias + 

Sirrah, Jew, remember the book. + 

Barabas + 

Marry, will I, sir. + 

Exeunt Mathias and his Mother. + 

First Officer + 

Come, I have made a reasonable market; let’s away. + 

Exeunt Officers with Slaves. + 

Barabas + 

Now let me know thy name, and therewithal + 

Thy birth, condition, and profession. + 

Ithamore + 

Faith, sir, my birth is but mean; my name’s Ithamore, my profession what you please. + 

Barabas + 

Hast thou no trade? then listen to my words, + 

And I will teach thee that shall stick by thee: + 

First, be thou void of these affections, + 

Compassion, love, vain hope, and heartless fear, + 

Be moved at nothing, see thou pity none, + 

But to thyself smile when the Christians moan. + 

Ithamore + 

O, brave, master, I worship your nose for this. + 

Barabas + 

As for myself, I walk abroad o’ nights + 

And kill sick people groaning under walls: + 

Sometimes I go about and poison wells; + 

And now and then, to cherish Christian thieves, + 

I am content to lose some of my crowns, + 

That I may, walking in my gallery, + 

See ’em go pinioned along by my door. + 

Being young, I studied physic, and began + 

To practise first upon the Italian; + 

There I enriched the priests with burials, + 

And always kept the sexton’s arms in ure + 

With digging graves and ringing dead men’s knells: + 

And, after that, was I an engineer, + 

And in the wars ’twixt France and Germany, + 

Under pretence of helping Charles the Fifth, + 

Slew friend and enemy with my stratagems. + 

Then after that was I an usurer, + 

And with extorting, cozening, forfeiting, + 

And tricks belonging unto brokery, + 

I filled the jails with bankrupts in a year, + 

And with young orphans planted hospitals, + 

And every moon made some or other mad, + 

And now and then one hang himself for grief, + 

Pinning upon his breast a long great scroll + 

How I with interest tormented him. + 

But mark how I am blest for plaguing them; + 

I have as much coin as will buy the town. + 

But tell me now, how hast thou spent thy time? + 

Ithamore + 

’Faith, master, + 

In setting Christian villages on fire, + 

Chaining of eunuchs, binding galley-slaves. + 

One time I was an hostler in an inn, + 

And in the night-time secretly would I steal + 

To travellers’ chambers, and there cut their throats: + 

Once at Jerusalem, where the pilgrims kneeled, + 

I strewed powder on the marble stones, + 

And therewithal their knees would rankle so, + 

That I have laughed a-good to see the cripples + 

Go limping home to Christendom on stilts. + 

Barabas + 

Why this is something: make account of me + 

As of thy fellow; we are villains both: + 

Both circumcised, we hate Christians both: + 

Be true and secret, thou shalt want no gold. + 

But stand aside, here comes Don Lodowick. + 

Enter Lodowick. + 

Lodowick + 

O Barabas, well met; + 

Where is the diamond you told me of? + 

Barabas + 

I have it for you, sir; please you walk in with me: + 

What, ho, Abigail! open the door, I say. + 

Enter Abigail, with letters. + 

Abigail + 

In good time, father; here are letters come + 

From Ormus, and the post stays here within. + 

Barabas + 

Give me the letters.⁠—Daughter, do you hear, + 

Entertain Lodowick the governor’s son + 

With all the courtesy you can afford; + 

Provided that you keep your maidenhead. + 

Use him as if he were a Philistine; + 

Dissemble, swear, protest, vow love to him, + 

He is not of the seed of Abraham. Aside. + 

I am a little busy, sir, pray pardon me. + 

Abigail, bid him welcome for my sake. + 

Abigail + 

For your sake and his own he’s welcome hither. + 

Barabas + 

Daughter, a word more; kiss him; speak him fair, + 

And like a cunning Jew so cast about, + 

That ye be both made sure ere you come out. Aside. + 

Abigail + 

O father! Don Mathias is my love. + 

Barabas + 

I know it: yet, I say, make love to him; + 

Do, it is requisite it should be so⁠—Aside. + 

Nay, on my life, it is my factor’s hand⁠— + 

But go you in, I’ll think upon the account. + 

Exeunt Abigail and Lodowick into the house. + 

The account is made, for Lodowick he dies. + 

My factor sends me word a merchant’s fled + 

That owes me for a hundred tun of wine: + 

I weigh it thus much; Snapping his fingers. I have wealth enough. + 

For now by this has he kissed Abigail; + 

And she vows love to him, and he to her. + 

As sure as heaven rained manna for the Jews, + 

So sure shall he and Don Mathias die: + 

His father was my chiefest enemy. + 

Enter Mathias. + 

Whither goes Don Mathias? stay awhile. + 

Mathias + 

Whither, but to my fair love Abigail? + 

Barabas + 

Thou know’st, and heaven can witness this is true, + 

That I intend my daughter shall be thine. + 

Mathias + 

Ay, Barabas, or else thou wrong’st me much. + 

Barabas + 

O, Heaven forbid I should have such a thought. + 

Pardon me though I weep: the governor’s son + 

Will, whether I will or no, have Abigail: + 

He sends her letters, bracelets, jewels, rings. + 

Mathias + 

Does she receive them? + 

Barabas + 

She! No, Mathias, no, but sends them back, + 

And, when he comes, she locks herself up fast; + 

Yet through the keyhole will he talk to her, + 

While she runs to the window looking out + 

When you should come and hale him from the door + 

Mathias + 

O treacherous Lodowick! + 

Barabas + 

Even now as I came home, he slipt me in, + 

And I am sure he is with Abigail. + 

Mathias + 

I’ll rouse him thence. + 

Barabas + 

Not for all Malta, therefore sheathe your sword; + 

If you love me, no quarrels in my house; + 

But steal you in, and seem to see him not; + 

I’ll give him such a warning ere he goes + 

As he shall have small hopes of Abigail. + 

Away, for here they come. + 

Reenter Lodowick and Abigail. + 

Mathias + 

What, hand in hand! I cannot suffer this. + 

Barabas + 

Mathias, as thou lov’st me, not a word. + 

Mathias + 

Well, let it pass; another time shall serve. + 

Exit into the house. + 

Lodowick + 

Barabas, is not that the widow’s son? + 

Barabas + 

Ay, and take heed, for he hath sworn your death. + 

Lodowick + 

My death! what, is the base-born peasant mad? + 

Barabas + 

No, no, but happily he stands in fear + 

Of that which you, I think, ne’er dream upon, + 

My daughter here, a paltry silly girl. + 

Lodowick + 

Why, loves she Don Mathias? + 

Barabas + 

Doth she not with her smiling answer you? + 

Abigail + 

He has my heart; I smile against my will. Aside. + 

Lodowick + 

Barabas, thou know’st I have loved thy daughter long. + 

Barabas + 

And so has she done you, even from a child. + 

Lodowick + 

And now I can no longer hold my mind. + 

Barabas + 

Nor I the affection that I bear to you. + 

Lodowick + 

This is thy diamond, tell me, shall I have it? + 

Barabas + 

Win it, and wear it, it is yet unsoiled. + 

O! but I know your lordship would disdain + 

To marry with the daughter of a Jew; + 

And yet I’ll give her many a golden cross + 

With Christian posies round about the ring. + 

Lodowick + 

’Tis not thy wealth, but her that I esteem. + 

Yet crave I thy consent. + 

Barabas + 

And mine you have, yet let me talk to her.⁠— + 

This offspring of Cain, this Jebusite, + 

That never tasted of the Passover, + 

Nor e’er shall see the land of Canaan, + 

Nor our Messias that is yet to come; + 

This gentle maggot, Lodowick, I mean, + 

Must be deluded: let him have thy hand, + 

But keep thy heart till Don Mathias comes. Aside. + 

Abigail + 

What, shall I be betrothed to Lodowick? + 

Barabas + 

It’s no sin to deceive a Christian; + 

For they themselves hold it a principle, + 

Faith is not to be held with heretics; + 

But all are heretics that are not Jews; + 

This follows well, and therefore, daughter, fear not. Aside. + 

I have entreated her, and she will grant. + 

Lodowick + 

Then, gentle Abigail, plight thy faith to me. + 

Abigail + 

I cannot choose, seeing my father bids.⁠— + 

Nothing but death shall part my love and me. Aside. + 

Lodowick + 

Now have I that for which my soul hath longed. + 

Barabas + 

So have not I, but yet I hope I shall. Aside. + 

Abigail + 

O wretched Abigail, what hast thou done? Aside. + 

Lodowick + 

Why on the sudden is your colour changed? + 

Abigail + 

I know not, but farewell, I must be gone. + 

Barabas + 

Stay her, but let her not speak one word more. + 

Lodowick + 

Mute o’ the sudden! here’s a sudden change. + 

Barabas + 

O, muse not at it, ’tis the Hebrews’ guise, + 

That maidens new betrothed should weep a while: + 

Trouble her not; sweet Lodowick, depart: + 

She is thy wife, and thou shalt be mine heir. + 

Lodowick + 

O, is’t the custom? then I am resolved: + 

But rather let the brightsome heavens be dim, + 

And nature’s beauty choke with stifling clouds, + 

Than my fair Abigail should frown on me.⁠— + 

There comes the villain; now I’ll be revenged. + 

Reenter Mathias. + 

Barabas + 

Be quiet, Lodowick; it is enough + 

That I have made thee sure to Abigail. + 

Lodowick + 

Well, let him go. + 

Exit. + 

Barabas + 

Well, but for me, as you went in at doors + 

You had been stabbed, but not a word on’t now; + 

Here must no speeches pass, nor swords be drawn. + 

Mathias + 

Suffer me, Barabas, but to follow him. + 

Barabas + 

No; so shall I, if any hurt be done, + 

Be made an accessary of your deeds; + 

Revenge it on him when you meet him next. + 

Mathias + 

For this I’ll have his heart. + 

Barabas + 

Do so; lo, here I give thee Abigail. + 

Mathias + 

What greater gift can poor Mathias have? + 

Shall Lodowick rob me of so fair a love? + 

My life is not so dear as Abigail. + 

Barabas + 

My heart misgives me, that, to cross your love, + 

He’s with your mother; therefore after him. + 

Mathias + 

What, is he gone unto my mother? + 

Barabas + 

Nay, if you will, stay till she comes herself. + 

Mathias + 

I cannot stay; for, if my mother come, + 

She’ll die with grief. + 

Exit. + 

Abigail + 

I cannot take my leave of him for tears: + 

Father, why have you thus incensed them both? + 

Barabas + 

What’s that to thee? + 

Abigail + 

I’ll make ’em friends again. + 

Barabas + 

You’ll make ’em friends! + 

Are there not Jews enow in Malta, + 

But thou must dote upon a Christian? + 

Abigail + 

I will have Don Mathias; he is my love. + 

Barabas + 

Yes, you shall have him: go put her in. + 

Ithamore + 

Ay, I’ll put her in. Puts in Abigail. + 

Barabas + 

Now tell me, Ithamore, how lik’st thou this? + 

Ithamore + 

Faith, master, I think by this + 

You purchase both their lives: is it not so? + 

Barabas + 

True; and it shall be cunningly performed. + 

Ithamore + 

O master, that I might have a hand in this. + 

Barabas + 

Ay, so thou shalt, ’tis thou must do the deed: + 

Take this, and bear it to Mathias straight, Gives a letter. + 

And tell him that it comes from Lodowick. + 

Ithamore + 

’Tis poisoned, is it not? + 

Barabas + 

No, no, and yet it might be done that way: + 

It is a challenge feigned from Lodowick. + 

Ithamore + 

Fear not; I will so set his heart afire, + 

That he shall verily think it comes from him. + 

Barabas + 

I cannot choose but like thy readiness: + 

Yet be not rash, but do it cunningly. + 

Ithamore + 

As I behave myself in this, employ me hereafter. + 

Barabas + 

Away, then. + 

Exit Ithamore. + 

So; now will I go in to Lodowick, + 

And, like a cunning spirit, feign some lie. + 

Till I have set ’em both at enmity. + 

Exit. + 