Chapter 2 Second Belmont.A room in Portia's house

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA. PORTIA Verily, Nerissa, my little body is weary of the wide world. Good Miss Nerissa, if your misfortunes are as great as your good fortunes, it is no wonder that you should be weary of the world; Humans are also subject to disease, so the golden mean is the greatest happiness: wealth makes people gray hair, and common people live a long life with vegetables and food. Portia's good sentence. It would be even better if Nerissa could follow it. PORTIA If it were as easy to do a thing as to know what to do, the chapels would be cathedrals, and the huts of the poor into princely palaces.A good teacher obeys his own teaching; I can teach twenty men what to do, but if I am one of the twenty doing my own teaching, I must be indifferent. up.Reason makes laws to restrain passions, But passion, when excited, flouts hard laws; young man is a wild hare, and leaps the barriers of reason which old age has set up.But my talking like this won't help me choose a husband.Alas, what choice!I can neither choose whom I like nor reject whom I loathe; the will of a living daughter is constrained by the will of a dead father.Nerissa, like me, I can't choose, and I can't refuse, isn't it too embarrassing?

Old Mrs. Nerissa had a high moral character during her lifetime, and when a man of righteousness is about to die, he must have divine enlightenment; since he has decided on the method of drawing lots, who can choose him among the three boxes of gold, silver and lead? If you pre-order one, you can get married with you, so the person you can choose must be worthy of your love.But among these princes and grandchildren who have come to propose to you, which one do you like the most? PORTIA Will you list their names, And when you mention any, I'll give him a few words; By my words, You'll know my impression of each of them.

Nerissa was the first Prince of Naples. PORTIA Well, he's a very little horse; and when he doesn't talk, he's always talking about his horse; and it's a great talent for him to shoe his own .I'm a little suspicious that his wife Lingtang had hooked up with the blacksmith. Nerissa and the Earl of Palatine? PORTIA He frowned all day long, as if to say, "If you don't love me, it's up to you." He didn't smile at the jokes.I saw that he had such a sad face when he was young, and he had to cry bitterly all day long when he was old.I'd rather marry a skeleton than either of these two; God keep me from falling into the hands of both!

Nerissa What do you say of that French nobleman, M. Le Bon? PORTIA Since God made him, let him be a man.In good conscience, I know it's a sin to laugh at people, but he!Hey!His horse was a little better than that of the Prince of Naples, and his frown was better than that of Count Palatine.He has a little bit of bad in everyone, but he doesn't have his own characteristics at all; when he hears a thrush singing, he will dance with his hands; when he sees his own shadow, he will compete with it.If I marry him, I marry twenty husbands; and if he despises me, I will forgive him, for if he loves me madly, I will never repay him.

Nerissa And what do you say of the young English baron, Fawkampridge? You know, Portia, that I did not say a word to him, for he could not understand me, nor could I understand him; nor Latin, nor French, nor Italian; and as to my English, You can testify in court for me.He looked all right, but alas!Who enjoys gesticulating with a mute?How queer was his attire!I think he got his doublet in Italy, his trousers in France, his bonnet in Germany, and as for his manners, he learned them from all sides. Nerissa What do you think of his neighbour, the Scottish nobleman? PORTIA He knows good neighbour's reciprocity, for the Englishman once gave him a slap, and swore to return it as soon as he could; the Frenchman, I think, is his guarantor, and he has signed the deed, It is stated that the reward will be doubled in the future.

Nerissa What do you think of that young German, nephew of the Duke of Saxony? Portia He's bad in the morning when he's sober, and worse in the afternoon when he's drunk; when he's at his best, he's a little unqualified to call him a man, and when he's at his worst, he's It's not much better than a beast.If the worst misfortunes befell me, I hoped never to be with him. Nerissa, if he asks for a choice, and actually chooses the box for him, if you refuse to marry him at that time, wouldn’t that be against the old lady’s will? PORTIA Just in case, I will ask you to put a full glass of Rhine wine on the wrong box for me; If the devil is in his heart, and temptation is before him, I believe he will choose that one. Only box.I will do anything, Nerissa, as long as I don't marry a drunkard.

Be assured, Miss Nerissa, that you will never marry any of these gentlemen again.They have told me their resolution, that if they cannot obtain your consent by any means other than the box of choice prescribed by your father, they have resolved to go home and leave you no more trouble. PORTIA If there is no one who will marry me as my father bid me, then even if I live to be a thousand years old, I will have to live forever.I'm glad this group of suitors is so sensible, because there's not one of them I'm not hoping for; God bless them! Miss Nerissa, do you remember that when the old man was alive, there was a Venetian with both civil and military skills who came here with the Marquis of Montfort?

PORTIA Yes, yes, that's Bassanio; I think that's his name. Nerissa is, miss; he is, of all men, the most worthy match for a lady, to my foolish eyes. PORTIA I remember him well, and he deserves your praise. Enter a Servant. O Portia!What's up? Miss Servant, those four guests are coming to bid you farewell; and there is a fifth guest, the Prince of Morocco, who has sent a message that his master, the Prince, will be here this evening. PORTIA It would be well if I could welcome this fifth guest with as much heart as I did the four.If he has the virtues of a saint, but has a devil-like appearance, then it is better to let him listen to my confession than to let him be my husband.Come, Nerissa.Hey, you go ahead.It is -

The mad bee with wings leaves the house, and the butterfly looking for Fanglang comes again. (same below.)