Chapter: SCENE 5.

The same. Before SHYLOCK'S house

[Enter SHYLOCK and LAUNCELOT.]

SHYLOCK.
Well, thou shalt see; thy eyes shall be thy judge,
The difference of old Shylock and Bassanio:--
What, Jessica!--Thou shalt not gormandize,
As thou hast done with me;--What, Jessica!--
And sleep and snore, and rend apparel out--
Why, Jessica, I say!

LAUNCELOT.
Why, Jessica!

SHYLOCK.
Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call.

LAUNCELOT.
Your worship was wont to tell me I could do nothing
without bidding.

[Enter JESSICA.]

JESSICA.
Call you?  What is your will?

SHYLOCK.
I am bid forth to supper, Jessica:
There are my keys. But wherefore should I go?
I am not bid for love; they flatter me;
But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon
The prodigal Christian. Jessica, my girl,
Look to my house. I am right loath to go;
There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest,
For I did dream of money-bags to-night.

LAUNCELOT.
I beseech you, sir, go: my young master doth expect your
reproach.

SHYLOCK.
So do I his.

LAUNCELOT.
And they have conspired together; I will not say you
shall see a masque, but if you do, then it was not for nothing
that my nose fell a-bleeding on Black Monday last at six o'clock
i' the morning, falling out that year on Ash-Wednesday was four
year in the afternoon.

SHYLOCK.
What! are there masques? Hear you me, Jessica:
Lock up my doors, and when you hear the drum,
And the vile squealing of the wry-neck'd fife,
Clamber not you up to the casements then,
Nor thrust your head into the public street
To gaze on Christian fools with varnish'd faces;
But stop my house's ears- I mean my casements;
Let not the sound of shallow fopp'ry enter
My sober house. By Jacob's staff, I swear
I have no mind of feasting forth to-night;
But I will go. Go you before me, sirrah;
Say I will come.

LAUNCELOT.
I will go before, sir. Mistress, look out at window for all this;
   There will come a Christian by
  Will be worth a Jewess' eye.

[Exit LAUNCELOT.]

SHYLOCK.
What says that fool of Hagar's offspring, ha?

JESSICA.
His words were 'Farewell, mistress'; nothing else.

SHYLOCK.
The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder;
Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day
More than the wild-cat; drones hive not with me,
Therefore I part with him; and part with him
To one that I would have him help to waste
His borrow'd purse. Well, Jessica, go in;
Perhaps I will return immediately:
Do as I bid you, shut doors after you:
'Fast bind, fast find,'
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.

[Exit.]

JESSICA.
Farewell; and if my fortune be not crost,
I have a father, you a daughter, lost.

[Exit.]

 In front of Shylock's house, Shylock chats with Lancelot, who's just brought him the dinner invitation from Bassanio. Lancelot is a clown and a servant. Like all Shakespearean clown figures, Lancelot's job is to fool around, make smart-alecky comments, and bag on all the other characters in the play. Shylock says Lancelot will soon see the difference between being in his service and being in Bassanio's. He then roughly calls in Jessica and tells her he's been invited to dinner. He says this isn't a friendly dinner invite but mere flattery. He's committed to feed upon his hatred of the Christians. Shylock tells Jessica that she'll have to look after the house. He says he fears something bad is about to happen, since he dreamed about money bags, supposedly a bad omen. Lancelot teases Shylock about his superstition, making up some silly omens of his own, but Shylock ignores him and warns Jessica of some revels that will fill the street that night. She's not to put her head outside the window or otherwise let any foolish merriment seep into his house. Shylock especially doesn't want any sounds of music coming through the windows, which you can read more about in the "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" section. Shylock then heads off to dinner, though he says he'd rather not. As he leaves with Lancelot, the clown delivers a seemingly harmless little rhyme to Jessica, telling her that a Christian will be worth looking out her window for later tonight. Shylock wonders what he said, but Jessica quickly deflects his inquiry, leaving her father to wax on about how Lancelot's departure is no great loss, as he was lazy and slept too much anyway. If anything, Shylock is grateful that Lancelot will assist Bassanio in wasting his borrowed cash. Again reminding Jessica to lock up the doors and stay inside, Shylock exits. Alone at Shylock's house, Jessica declares she will soon have a new father and hers will be rid of a daughter.

