Here is the line-by-line paraphrase of Bassanio’s monologue from The Merchant of Venice:

BASSANIO - First Section:

Original: ‘Tis not unknown to you, Antonio, / How much I have disabled mine estate,
Modern: You already know, Antonio, how much I’ve ruined my financial situation,

Original: By something showing a more swelling port / Than my faint means would grant continuance:
Modern: By living a more extravagant lifestyle than my weak finances could actually support:

Original: Nor do I now make moan to be abridged / From such a noble rate; but my chief care
Modern: And I’m not complaining about having to cut back from such a grand way of living; but my main concern

Original: Is to come fairly off from the great debts / Wherein my time something too prodigal
Modern: Is to honorably get out of the huge debts that my overly wasteful spending

Original: Hath left me gaged. To you, Antonio,
Modern: Has left me trapped in. To you, Antonio,

Original: I owe the most, in money and in love,
Modern: I owe the most, both in actual money and in gratitude,

Original: And from your love I have a warranty
Modern: And because of your friendship I feel I have permission

Original: To unburden all my plots and purposes / How to get clear of all the debts I owe.
Modern: To share all my plans and ideas for how to get free of all the debts I owe.

BASSANIO - Second Section:

Original: In my school-days, when I had lost one shaft,
Modern: When I was a schoolboy, whenever I lost an arrow,

Original: I shot his fellow of the self-same flight
Modern: I would shoot another arrow exactly like it

Original: The self-same way with more advised watch,
Modern: In the same direction but watching more carefully,

Original: To find the other forth, and by adventuring both
Modern: To find the first one, and by risking both arrows

Original: I oft found both: I urge this childhood proof,
Modern: I often found them both: I’m bringing up this lesson from childhood

Original: Because what follows is pure innocence.
Modern: Because what I’m about to suggest comes from that same simple logic.

Original: I owe you much, and, like a wilful youth,
Modern: I owe you a lot, and, like a reckless young person,

Original: That which I owe is lost; but if you please
Modern: What I owe you is lost; but if you’re willing

Original: To shoot another arrow that self way / Which you did shoot the first, I do not doubt,
Modern: To shoot another arrow in the same way you shot the first one, I have no doubt

Original: As I will watch the aim, or to find both
Modern: Since I’ll watch carefully where it goes, that I’ll either find both

Original: Or bring your latter hazard back again
Modern: Or at least bring back the second risk you took

Original: And thankfully rest debtor for the first.
Modern: And remain gratefully in your debt only for the first one.

BASSANIO - Third Section:

Original: In Belmont is a lady richly left;
Modern: In Belmont there’s a lady who inherited great wealth;

Original: And she is fair, and, fairer than that word,
Modern: And she is beautiful, and even more than just beautiful,

Original: Of wondrous virtues: sometimes from her eyes
Modern: She has amazing good qualities: sometimes from her eyes

Original: I did receive fair speechless messages:
Modern: I received encouraging unspoken signals:

Original: Her name is Portia, nothing undervalued / To Cato’s daughter, Brutus’ Portia:
Modern: Her name is Portia, and she’s just as worthy as the famous Portia who was Brutus’s wife:

Original: Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth,
Modern: And the whole world knows about her value,

Original: For the four winds blow in from every coast / Renowned suitors,
Modern: Because from every direction come famous suitors,

Original: and her sunny locks / Hang on her temples like a golden fleece;
Modern: and her golden hair hangs around her face like the mythical golden fleece;

Original: Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos’ strand,
Modern: Which makes her home in Belmont like the shores of Colchis,

Original: And many Jasons come in quest of her.
Modern: And many fortune-hunters come seeking to win her.

Original: O my Antonio, had I but the means / To hold a rival place with one of them,
Modern: Oh my Antonio, if I only had the resources to compete equally with one of them,

Original: I have a mind presages me such thrift,
Modern: I have a feeling that predicts I would be so successful,

Original: That I should questionless be fortunate!
Modern: That I would definitely win her!

In Act I, Scene 1 of “The Merchant of Venice,” Antonio, a Venetian merchant, opens the play in conversation with his friends Salerio and Solanio, who are concerned about his melancholy. They speculate that Antonio is worried about his merchant ships at sea or perhaps in love, but Antonio denies both explanations. When Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Gratiano arrive, the first group departs. Gratiano also notices Antonio’s sadness and advises him not to play the role of a melancholy man, warning that those who affect silence and gravity are often considered wise only because they say nothing. After Gratiano and Lorenzo leave, Antonio and Bassanio are left alone.

Bassanio then reveals to Antonio that he is in debt, much of it owed to Antonio himself, and wishes to undertake a venture that might restore his fortunes. He explains that he has fallen in love with Portia, a wealthy heiress in Belmont who is being courted by suitors from around the world. Bassanio believes he could successfully compete for her hand if he had the means to present himself properly. Antonio responds that all his money is currently invested in his ships at sea, but he encourages Bassanio to seek credit in Venice based on Antonio’s good reputation, and Antonio will stand as guarantor for any loan Bassanio can secure.

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.