How does Nerissa attempt to comfort Portia and justify her father's creation of the lottery
and the chests?

hey !

1.the hosts on two opposing mountains stood,  

2.thick as the foliage of the waving wood;  

3.between them an extensive valley lay,  

4.o'er which the gleaming armour pour'd the day,  

5.when from the camp of the philistine foes,

6. dreadful to view, a mighty warrior rose; in the dire deeds of bleeding battle skill'd,

there is no excerpt.

put the excerpt in the comments and ill answer.

the answer is definitely option c. "sonnet xxxi best illustrates the division. in the octave, the poet observes that the moon is in love. in the sestet, he gives his reaction to the fickleness of woman's love."