1.

Janes was a roman god depicted with two heads looking in opposite directions, one
frowning and the other smiling. According to a legend, Janes received a gift from God
Saturn to see both future and the past. He was worshipped at the beginning of harvest
and planting times, births and other such occasions.

2. Gratiano says that there is a category of men whose faces are covered by masks which
are like the green film on the surface of the stagnant water of a pond. Such men
purposely put on a wilful stillness so that people believe they are grave & wise and
capable of profound thought. Such men consider themselves to be as wise as the oracle
and do not want any other dog to bark when they speak.

3. Bassanio talks about a childhood experience when he lost one arrow and then shot the
next so that he could recover the first. All this while, he watched where both arrows went.
He relates this to the sums of money that Antonio has constantly lent him. Now to
‘furnish thee to Balmont’, he promises to carefully watch where he spends Antonio’s
second loan and try to find and recover all of ‘his borrowed purse’.

4. Golden fleece- In Greek mythology, the golden fleece is the fleece of the golden haired
winged man, who is very wealthy.

5. Salarino is speaking of a hypothetical situation where he is imagining his wealthy ship

Andrew being shipwrecked because of shallows and of flats. Most of the ship would be
lower than the ribs and it would appear that the ship was kissing the sand in which she
had met her end.

6. In Greek mythology, Nestor was the king of Pylos. He was one of the greatest generals
in the Trojan war. He was famous for his wisdom.