The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play written by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599.  Although classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for Shylock and his famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech on humanity. Also notable is Portia's speech about "the quality of mercy".

《威尼斯商人》是威廉·莎士比亚（William Shakespeare）创作的16世纪戏剧，其中一位名叫安东尼奥（Antonio）的威尼斯商人拖欠了犹太放债人夏洛克（Shylock）提供的一笔大笔贷款。据信，这本书写于1596年至1599年之间。尽管在第一对开本中被列为喜剧，并且与莎士比亚的其他浪漫喜剧有某些共同之处，但该剧因其戏剧性的场面而广为人知，并且以夏洛克和他的著名而著称。著名的“不是犹太人的眼睛吗？”关于人类的演讲。同样值得注意的是波蒂亚（Portia）关于“仁慈”的演讲。