I pray thee, over-name them; and as thou namest them, I will describe them.
NERISSA First, there is the Neapolitan prince.
PORTIA a young horse
Ay, that’s a colt indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse; I am much afeard my lady his mother played false with a smith.
blacksmith NERISSA Then there is the County Palatine. PORTIA
the German is a miserable man (Germans were believed to be too serious)
from the Rhineland in Germany
He doth nothing but frown, he hears merry tales and smiles not: I fear he will prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be married to a death’s-head with a bone in his mouth than to either of these.
skull
So, at this point, Portia has rejected two men, that is, the Prince from Naples who never stops talking about his horse and the Nobleman from Germany who never laughs at jokes and always looks depressed.
There are four more men to go – one from France, one from England, one from Scotland and another from Germany. Unfortunately, they all have their faults and she despises each one for a diff erent reason!
NERISSA How say you by the French lord, Monsieur Le Bon? from Naples
‘As you name them, I’ll tell you how I feel about them.’
