Original: Certainly my conscience will serve me to run from this Jew my master.
Modern: My conscience is definitely telling me to run away from my Jewish master.

Original: The fiend is at mine elbow and tempts me saying to me ‘Gobbo, Launcelot Gobbo, good Launcelot,’ or ‘good Gobbo,’ or good Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs, take the start, run away.
Modern: The devil is right beside me, tempting me by saying, ‘Gobbo, Launcelot Gobbo, good Launcelot,’ or ‘good Gobbo,’ or ‘good Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs, get a head start, run away.’

Original: My conscience says ‘No; take heed,’ honest Launcelot; take heed, honest Gobbo, or, as aforesaid, ‘honest Launcelot Gobbo; do not run; scorn running with thy heels.’
Modern: My conscience says ‘No, be careful, honest Launcelot; be careful, honest Gobbo,’ or as I said before, ‘honest Launcelot Gobbo; don’t run; reject the idea of running away.’

Original: Well, the most courageous fiend bids me pack: ‘Via!’ says the fiend; ‘away!’ says the fiend; ‘for the heavens, rouse up a brave mind,’ says the fiend, ‘and run.’
Modern: Well, the bold devil tells me to pack up and leave: ‘Go!’ says the devil; ‘away!’ says the devil; ‘for heaven’s sake, be brave,’ says the devil, ‘and run.’

Original: Well, my conscience, hanging about the neck of my heart, says very wisely to me ‘My honest friend Launcelot, being an honest man’s son,’ or rather an honest woman’s son; for, indeed, my father did something smack, something grow to, he had a kind of taste; well, my conscience says ‘Launcelot, budge not.’
Modern: Well, my conscience, weighing heavily on my heart, says very wisely to me, ‘My honest friend Launcelot, being an honest man’s son’—or rather an honest woman’s son, because honestly, my father had some questionable habits and appetites—well, my conscience says ‘Launcelot, don’t move.’

Original: ‘Budge,’ says the fiend.
Modern: ‘Move,’ says the devil.

Original: ‘Budge not,’ says my conscience.
Modern: ‘Don’t move,’ says my conscience.

Original: ‘Conscience,’ say I, ‘you counsel well;’ ‘ Fiend,’ say I, ‘you counsel well:’ to be ruled by my conscience, I should stay with the Jew my master, who, God bless the mark, is a kind of devil; and, to run away from the Jew, I should be ruled by the fiend, who, saving your reverence, is the devil himself.
Modern: ‘Conscience,’ I say, ‘you give good advice.’ ‘Devil,’ I say, ‘you give good advice too.’ If I follow my conscience, I should stay with my Jewish master, who—God help us—is like a devil himself; and if I run away from him, I’d be following the actual devil.

Original: Certainly the Jew is the very devil incarnal; and, in my conscience, my conscience is but a kind of hard conscience, to offer to counsel me to stay with the Jew.
Modern: My master is definitely the devil in human form, and honestly, my conscience is being pretty harsh to advise me to stay with him.

Original: The fiend gives the more friendly counsel: I will run, fiend; my heels are at your command; I will run.
Modern: The devil is giving me the better advice: I will run, devil; my feet are ready to obey you; I will run.

In Act II, scene ii of “The Merchant of Venice,” Launcelot Gobbo, Shylock’s servant, delivers a soliloquy wrestling with his conscience about whether to run away from his master’s service. He personifies his conscience and the devil as voices in his head, with his conscience urging him to stay loyal to Shylock while the devil encourages him to flee. Launcelot ultimately decides to follow the devil’s counsel and escape, declaring that Shylock is “a kind of devil” and that he will run away from the Jewish household.

Old Gobbo, Launcelot’s nearly blind father, then enters carrying a basket and seeking directions to Shylock’s house to deliver a present to his son. Launcelot decides to test his father’s eyesight and recognition by giving him wrong directions and pretending to be someone else. After some confusion and comic wordplay, Launcelot reveals his identity to his father. The scene concludes with Bassanio entering with his followers, and both Gobbos approach him - Old Gobbo to deliver his gift and recommend his son, and Launcelot to seek employment in Bassanio’s service rather than remaining with Shylock.

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.