Eventually Lancelot stops his nonsense and reveals his identity to Gobbo. Gobbo tells his son that he has brought a present for Shylock so that Shylock will treat Lancelot well. Lancelot, though, tells his father that Shylock does not even give him enough food to eat: “You can tell every finger I have withmyribs” (94-95). The wordtellhere means to count. Lancelot is complaining that he has had so little to eat that his ribs are showing. So, Lancelot asks his father to present his gift to Bassanio instead. If Lancelot cannot serve Bassanio, who treats his servants well, then he will runaway.
The scene continues, and Bassanio soon appears with several other men. Gobbo presents Bassanio with a gift of cooked doves, and together the two bumpkins awkwardly ask Bassanio to take Lancelot into his service. Bassanio has difficulty understanding them because, in typical Renaissance clown fashion, Lancelot and Gobble mangle their English and frequently use words incorrectly. For example, they useinfectioninstead of affection (line 111),fruitifyinstead of certify (line 119), andimpertinentinstead of pertinent (line 122).
Eventually Bassanio gets them to make their request plainly and simply, and he agrees to take Lancelot into his service. Bassanio warns Lancelot,