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LAUNCELOT. Serve you, sir.
GOBBO. That is the very defect of the matter, sir.
BASSANIO. I know thee well; thou hast obtain ' d thy suit. Shylock thy master spoke with me this day, And hath preferr ' d thee, if it be preferment To leave a rich Jew ' s service to become The follower of so poor a gentleman.
LAUNCELOT. The old proverb is very well parted between my master Shylock and you, sir: you have the grace of God, sir, and he hath enough.
BASSANIO. Thou speak ' st it well. Go, father, with thy son. Take leave of thy old master, and inquire My lodging out. [ To a SERVANT ] Give him a livery More guarded than his fellows '; see it done.
LAUNCELOT. Father, in. I cannot get a service, no! I have ne ' er a tongue in my head! [ Looking on his palm ] Well; if any man in Italy have a fairer table which doth offer to swear upon a book, I shall have good fortune. Go to; here ' s a simple line of life: here ' s a small trifle of wives; alas, fifteen wives is nothing; a ' leven widows and nine maids is a simple coming-in for one man. And then to scape drowning thrice, and to be in peril of my life with the edge of a feather-bed; here are simple ' scapes. Well, if Fortune be a woman, she ' s a good wench for this gear. Father, come; I ' ll take my leave of the Jew in the twinkling of an eye.
[ Exeunt LAUNCELOT and OLD GOBBO.]