Original: I pray you, tarry: pause a day or two
Modern: Please, I beg you to wait here for a day or two

Original: Before you hazard; for, in choosing wrong,
Modern: Before you take this risk, because if you choose wrong,

Original: I lose your company: therefore forbear awhile.
Modern: I’ll lose you forever, so please hold off for a while.

Original: There’s something tells me, but it is not love,
Modern: Something inside me says this, though it’s not love,

Original: I would not lose you; and you know yourself,
Modern: That I don’t want to lose you; and you know yourself

Original: Hate counsels not in such a quality.
Modern: That hatred doesn’t give advice like this.

Original: But lest you should not understand me well,–
Modern: But in case you don’t understand what I mean—

Original: And yet a maiden hath no tongue but thought,–
Modern: And remember, an unmarried woman can only think, not speak freely—

Original: I would detain you here some month or two
Modern: I would keep you here for a month or two

Original: Before you venture for me. I could teach you
Modern: Before you risk everything for me. I could teach you

Original: How to choose right, but I am then forsworn;
Modern: How to make the right choice, but then I’d be breaking my oath;

Original: So will I never be: so may you miss me;
Modern: So I’ll never do that, which means you might fail;

Original: But if you do, you’ll make me wish a sin,
Modern: But if you do fail, you’ll make me wish I had sinned

Original: That I had been forsworn. Beshrew your eyes,
Modern: By breaking my promise. Curse your eyes—

Original: They have o’erlook’d me and divided me;
Modern: They’ve bewitched me and split me in two;

Original: One half of me is yours, the other half yours,
Modern: Half of me belongs to you, the other half is yours too—

Original: Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours,
Modern: I mean, my own, I want to say; but if it’s mine, then it’s yours,

Original: And so all yours. O, these naughty times
Modern: So all of me is yours. Oh, these terrible times

Original: Put bars between the owners and their rights!
Modern: Create barriers between people and what rightfully belongs to them!

Original: And so, though yours, not yours. Prove it so,
Modern: So even though I’m yours, I’m not yours. If this proves true,

Original: Let fortune go to hell for it, not I.
Modern: Let fate be damned for it, not me.

Original: I speak too long; but ‘tis to peize the time,
Modern: I’m talking too much, but it’s to make time feel heavier,

Original: To eke it and to draw it out in length,
Modern: To stretch it out and make it last longer,

Original: To stay you from election.
Modern: To delay you from making your choice.

In Act III, Scene ii of “The Merchant of Venice,” Bassanio arrives at Belmont to attempt the casket test that will determine whether he can marry Portia. Portia expresses her conflicted feelings about the trial, simultaneously hoping he will succeed while fearing he might fail and leave her forever. She asks him to wait before choosing, wanting to spend more time with him, but Bassanio insists he cannot bear the torment of delay and must proceed immediately. Portia orders music to be played while he makes his choice, comparing it to a swan song if he should fail.

Bassanio contemplates the three caskets—gold, silver, and lead—and delivers a lengthy soliloquy rejecting outward show and appearance in favor of substance. He reasons that gold and silver represent mere ornament and chooses the lead casket, finding within it Portia’s portrait and a scroll declaring his success. Portia joyfully gives herself and her fortune to Bassanio, presenting him with a ring as a token of their bond and making him promise never to part with it. Their celebration is interrupted by the arrival of Gratiano and Nerissa, who reveal they too wish to marry, followed by Lorenzo and Jessica. The scene concludes with Salerio bringing a letter from Antonio revealing that his ships have been lost and that Shylock demands his pound of flesh.

The Merchant of Venice centers on Bassanio, a young Venetian gentleman who needs money to court the wealthy heiress Portia in Belmont. His friend Antonio, a merchant, agrees to help but has no ready cash since his ships are at sea. Antonio borrows 3,000 ducats from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, with the unusual condition that if the loan isn’t repaid within three months, Shylock may take a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Meanwhile, Shylock’s daughter Jessica elopes with the Christian Lorenzo, taking her father’s money and jewels.

In Belmont, Portia’s deceased father has decreed that her suitors must choose correctly among three caskets—gold, silver, and lead—to win her hand. The Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Arragon both choose incorrectly and depart. When Bassanio arrives and selects the lead casket, he wins Portia, while his friend Gratiano wins her maid Nerissa. Their celebrations are interrupted by news that Antonio’s ships have been lost and Shylock demands his pound of flesh.

Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves as a lawyer and clerk and travel to Venice for Antonio’s trial. In court, Portia grants Shylock his legal right to the flesh but warns he may take no blood and must cut exactly one pound—an impossible task. Defeated, Shylock loses his bond and, under Venetian law, must forfeit half his wealth and convert to Christianity. The disguised Portia requests Bassanio’s wedding ring as payment, which he reluctantly gives. Back in Belmont, Portia playfully scolds her husband for giving away his ring before revealing her disguise. The play concludes with news that Antonio’s ships have safely returned, restoring his fortune.