بدهی

CHAPTER THREE

The Debt

A few days later, a messenger arrived at Portia and Bassanio’s house. Bassanio received the letter and opened it. It read:

Dear Bassanio.

Mij ships have all sunk. I am in big trouble. Shy lock w ants to take a pound of flash from mo. Everyone has tried to talk him out of it. fven the Duke of Venice has tried. But no one has had any success.

I am going to die. Please come to my trial and execution. I want to see you once more. Come quickly. I don’ l have much time.

Your friend.

Antonio

As Bassanio read the note, his face turned white. He had to sit down. His hands trembled.

Portia ran to him. “What is it? What’s wrong? Please! Answer me!”

“Oh! My poor friend Antonio! He’s going to die! Portia, listen to me carefully. I am not only a poor man. I am a debtor as well.”

Bassanio told her all about the money and the pound of flesh.

A chill ran through Portia’s body. She couldn’t believe that a man wanted to cut a pound of flesh from someone.

“Bassanio, go to your friend right away,” she said. “You are my husband now. My money is your money. You must pay back Antonio’s debt. I’ll give you two times the original loan. Go quickly before Antonio is killed.”

Bassanio put a lot of money in a bag and left for Venice. He found Antonio in prison. When he saw his friend, Antonio ran to him and hugged him. Antonio looked small and weak.

“My dear friend,” said Bassanio. “I’ll go to Shylock today and pay back the money. I’m sure he’ll take it and then you can go free. After all, he is very greedy. He won’t say ‘no* to money.”

“Dear Bassanio,” said Antonio. “You are loo kind. But I think it’s too late. Shylock wants a pound of flesh from me. According to the loan agreement, that’s what I owe him. You won’t be able to talk him out of it.”

“He’s never refused money before.”

“This time it’s different. He hates me so much that he wants to kill me. And to make matters worse, Jessica ran away from home.”

“Jessica? Do you mean Shylock’s daughter?”

“That’s right. She married the young man who was living in your parents’ house. The Christian boy. She is going to give up her religion and become a Christian. And when she ran away from home, she stole a gem from Shylock, too.”

“Oh! That’s terrible,” said Bassanio.

“He probably thinks that I made her marry the Christian. But I have nothing to do with it. I swear! He’s really mad! He cut Jessica out of his will. And, for the past few days, Shy lock’s been talking about me. He’s told everyone that he’s going to kill me.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Bassanio. “I’ll talk to Shylock. I’ll make him change his mind. I’ll do whatever I need to.”

Bassanio went out of the prison and found Shylock.

“Please, I beg you. Please spare Antonio’s life. Please, please release him from prison. Here’s six thousand ducats. That’s twice the amount we borrowed in the first place.” Bassanio begged on his hands and knees.

“No. I want a pound of flesh. He owes me that.” “I’ll give you nine thousand ducats. Just let him live!” “No.”

“Name your price. I’ll pay you anything.” “I want a pound of flesh.”

Bassanio realized that Shylock would not change his mind. There was only one thing that he could do. He had to go to court. At that time, everyone of Venice was talking about the problem. Everyone felt sorry for Antonio. He had only wanted to help a friend. And everyone hated Shylock. He was such an evil man. More than being evil, however, he was angry. He was angry with Antonio.

Antonio had always spoken roughly to him at the Rialto. He had cursed Shylock for being a Jew. He had yelled at him for being a mean and greedy businessman. Shylock was also very angry about his daughter. His whole world was a dark and nasty place. And he had nothing but hatred in his heart for these two Christians, Antonio and Bassanio.

A date was set for the trial. It was a very important trial. Even the Duke of Venice was involved. He would be the judge.

Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia heard about the trial. She decided that she had to help poor Antonio. She could not rely on fate to change the course of events.

Portia wrote a letter to her cousin, Bellario. He was a well-known lawyer. She asked for his opinion about Antonio’s case. She also asked him to lend her the clothes that he wore in court.

A few days later, a letter and a box arrived in Belmont. The letter had instructions for defending Antonio. In the box were two sets of clothes that Bellario wore in court.

Portia dressed in one set. She made Nerissa wear the other set. Then they left for Venice.

Portia and Nerissa went to the Grand Courthouse of Venice. There, they waited for the trial to begin. On the day of trial, it seemed like every Venetian came to the court. Everyone wanted to know what would happen to Antonio.