Third Witch. Anon.

ΙΟ

All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Exeunt.

SCENE II. A camp near Forres.

Alarum within. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENNOX, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant.

Dun. What bloody man is that? He can report,

As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.

Mal.
This is the sergeant
Who like a good and hardy soldier fought
'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it.

Doubtful it stood;

Ser. As two spent swimmers, that do cling together And choke their art. The merciless Macdon

An English Doctor.
A Scotch Doctor.
A Soldier.

A Porter.
An Old Man.

LADY MACBbeth.

LADY MACDUFF.

Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth.

HECATE.

Three Witches. Apparitions.

Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, Attendants, and Messengers.

SCENE: Scotland: England.

21

Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak
For brave Macbeth-wellhe deserves that name-
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to
him,

passage

20

Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps/ And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

Dun. O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman! Ser. As whence the sun 'gins his reflection Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break, So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to

wounds;

They smack of honour both. Go get him sur[Exit Sergeant, attended.

geons. Who comes here?

Mal.

Enter Ross.

The worthy thane of Ross.

Len. What a haste looks through his eyes!
So should he look

That seems to speak things strange.
Ross.

God save the king!
Dun. Whence camest thou, worthy thane?
Ross.
From Fife, great king;

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky
And fan our people cold. Norway himself,
With terrible numbers,

Assisted by that most disloyal traitor
The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict;
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm,
Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude,
The victory fell on us.

Dun. Ross.

Great happiness!

50

That now Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition; Nor would we deign him burial of his men Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's inch Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

60

Dun. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive

Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death,

And with his former title greet Macbeth.

Ross. I'll see it done.

Sec. Witch. I'll give thee a wind.
First Witch. Thou 'rt kind.

Third Witch. And I another.

First Witch. I myself have all the other,

And the very ports they blow,

All the quarters that they know

I' the shipman's card.

I will drain him dry as hay:
Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his pent-house lid;
He shall live a man forbid:
Weary se'nnights nine times nine
Shall he dwindle, peak and pine:
Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-tost.

Look what I have.

Sec. Witch. Show me, show me.

First Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb,

ΙΟ

20

All. The weird sisters, hand in hand,
Posters of the sea and land,
Thus do go about, about:

Thrice to thine and thrice to mine
And thrice again, to make up nine.
Peace! the charm's wound up.

Enter MACBETH and BANQUO.

Macb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Ban. How far is't call'd to Forres? What are these

40

So wither'd and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to under-
stand me,

By each at once her choppy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.

Macb. Speak, if you can: what are you? First Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis !

Sec. Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!

Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!

50

Ban. Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear

Things that do sound so fair? I' the name of truth,

Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,

That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not.
If you can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
Your favours nor your hate.

First Witch. Hail! Sec. Witch. Hail! Third Witch. Hail!

60

First Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Sec. Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. Third Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:

So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!

First Witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail! Mach. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me

As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd! Ban. Were such things here as we do speak about?

Or have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner?

Macb. Your children shall be kings.
. Ban.
You shall be king.
Macb. And thane of Cawdor too: went it

not so?

Ban. To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here?

Enter Ross and ANGUS.

Ross. The king hath happily received, Macbeth,

The news of thy

Thy personal ven Ccess; and when he reads 90

in the rebels' fight,

His wonders and his praises do contend
Which should be thine or his: silenced with that,
In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day,
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
Strange images of death. As thick as hail
Came post with post; and every one did bear
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence,
And pour'd them down before him.
Ang.

We are sent 100
To give thee from our royal master thanks;
Only to herald thee into his sight,

Not pay thee.

ΙΙΟ

Ang.
Who was the thane lives yet;
But under heavy judgement bears that life
Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was
combined

With those of Norway, or did line the rebel
With hidden help and vantage, or that with both
He labour'd in his country's wreck, I know not;
But treasons capital, confess'd and proved,
Have overthrown him.

Macb. [Aside] Glamis, and thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind. [To Ross and Angus]

Thanks for your pains. [To Ban.] Do you not hope your children shall be kings,

When those that gave the thane of Cawdor

The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king. Think upon what hath chanced, and, at more time,

The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak
Our free hearts each to other.

Ban.

Very gladly. Mach. Till then, enough. Come, friends. [Exeunt.

Flourish. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONAL-
BAIN, LENNOX, and Attendants.
Din. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not
Those in commission yet return'd?

Mal.

My liege, They are not yet come back. But I have spoke With one that saw him die: who did report That very frankly he confess'd his treasons, Implored your highness' pardon and set forth A deep repentance: nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it; he died As one that had been studied in his death To throw away the dearest thing he owed, As 'twere a careless trifle. Dun. There's no art To find the mind's construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust.

10

Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, Ross, and ANGUS.
O worthiest cousin!

The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me: thou art so far before
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow

To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved,

That the proportion both of thanks and payment Might have been mine! only I have left to say, 20 More is thy due than more than all can pay.

Macb. The service and the loyalty I owe,

In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part
Is to receive our duties; and our duties
Are to your throne and state children and servants,
Which do but what they should, by doing every
thing

Safe toward your love and honour.
Dun

Welcome hither:
I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo,
That hast no less, deserved, nor must be known 30
No less to have done so, let me infold thee
And hold thee to my heart.

Ban.

The harvest is your own. Dun.

There if I grow,

My plenteous joys, Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves In drops of sorrow. Sons, kinsmen, thanes, And you whose places are the nearest, know

We will establish our estate upon

40

Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter
The Prince of Cumberland; which honour must
Not unaccompanied invest him only,
But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers. From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.

Macb. The rest is labour, which is not used for you:

I'll be myself the harbinger and make joyful
The hearing of my wife with your approach;
So humbly take my leave.
Dun.

My worthy Cawdor! Macb. [Aside] The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step

On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; 50
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

[Exit.

Dun. True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant,

And in his commendations I am fed ;
It is a banquet to me. Let's after him,
Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome:
It is a peerless kinsman.

[Flourish. Exeunt.

SCENE V. Inverness. Macbeth's castle. Enter LADY MACBETH, reading a letter. Lady M. They met me in the day of success: and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them further, they made themselves air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who all-hailed me "Thane of Cawdor;" by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time, with " Hail, king that shalt be!" This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell.

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without

20

The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly,

That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win: thouldst have, great Glamis,

That which cries Thus thou must do, if thou have it;

And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone.' Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal.

Enter a Messenger.

30

Is not thy master with him? who, were't so,
Would have inform'd for preparation.

Mess. So please you, it is true: our thane is coming:

One of my fellows had the speed of him,
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Than would make up his message.
Lady M

He brings great.news.

Give him tending; [Exit Messenger. The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood; Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,

Wherever in your sightless substances

50

You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!'

SCENE VI. Before Macbeth's castle. Hautboys and torches. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, BANQUO, LENNOX, MACDUFF, ROSS, ANGUS, and Attendants. Dun. This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself Unto our gentle senses. Ban.

This guest of summer, The temple-haunting martlet, does approve, By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze, Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle: Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed,

SCENE VII.

30 [Exeunt.

Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice
To our own lips. He's here in double trust;
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. Besides this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.

Enter LADY MACBETH,

How now! what news?

20

Lady M. He has almost supp'd: why have you left the chamber?

Macb. Hath he ask'd for me?

Lady M.

Know you not he has? 30 Macb. We will proceed no further in this

business:

He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.
Lady M.
Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since?
And wakes it now, to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely? From this time
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,'
Like the poor cat i' the adage?
Macb.

Prithee, peace:

40

I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.
Lady M.
What beast was't, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would 50
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:
They have made themselves, and that their fit-

Macbeth's castle. Hautboys and torches. Enter a Sewer, and divers Servants with dishes and service, and pass over the stage. Then enter MACBETH. Maeb. If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well

It were done quickly: if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We'ld jump the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgement here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice

ness noW

If we should fail?

Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.
Macb.
Lady M.
We fail!
But screw your courage to the sticking-place, 60
And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep-
Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey
Soundly invite him-his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince
That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason
A limbeck only: when in swinish sleep