Merchant of Venice. - Repositories

144 NOTES [ACT II.
I. 52. a\ Used among uneducated persons for he.
1. 55. ergo. Latin for therefore. Because of what words
just spoken by Gobbo can Launcelot, with perfectly good logic,
say here, ^'Ergo^ Master Launcelot" ?
1. 57. an't. What is always the meaning of an in the plays
of Shakespeare ?
1. 59. father. Used often merely as a term of respect.
1. 61. Sisters Three. The three Fates of Greek mythology.
These maidens sat spinning the webs of men's lives, and when
they decided that any man must die, one of them cut the thread
of his existence, and so e*nded his life.
1. 66. hovel-post. Post supporting a hovel, or shed.
1. 90. Lord worshipped might he be! Some editors think
this means that Launcelot appears to have so much of a beard
that he deserves to be treated with the honor paid to a lord.
More probably the phrase means, "The Lord be praised." On
the stage at this point Launcelot is usually beheld kneeling
with the back of his head toward his father.
1. 101. set up my rest. Made up my mind.
1. 102. some ground. How much would this mean in
Venice ?
1. 105. ribs. Here Launcelot is seen to take old Gobbo's
forefinger with one hand, and having spread his own fingers
of the other hand out over his own side, he tries to make his
father think that the outspread fingers are the protruding ribs
of an abused servant.
1.117. Gramercy. The same as the old French "Grand