Macb. How, say'st thou, that Macduff denies his

person,

At our great bidding?

Lady. Did you send to him, sir?

Macb. I hear it by the way; but I will send :
There's not a one of them, but in his house
I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow,
(And by times I will,) unto the weird sisters:
More shall they speak; for now I am bent to know,
By the worst means, the worst: for mine own good,
All causes shall give way; I am in blood

Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er.

Lady. You lack the season of all natures, sleep.
Macb. Come, we'll to sleep: My strange and self-

abuse

Is the initiate fear, that wants hard use:

We are yet but young in deed.

[Exeunt.

SCENE V.

The open Country.

Thunder and Lightning.

Enter the Three WITCHES, meeting HECATE.

1 Witch. Why, how now, Hecate? you look an

gerly.

Hec. Have I not reason, beldams, as you are,

Saucy and overbold? How did you dare

To trade and traffic with Macbeth,

In riddles, and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never call'd to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?

But make amends now: Get you gone,
And at the pit of Acheron

Meet me i'the morning; thither he
Will come to know his destiny.—
Your vessels, and your spells, provide,
Your charms, and every thing beside:
I am for the air: this night I'll spend
Unto a dismal-fatal end.

[Exeunt the Three WITCHES.

SPIRITS descend in HECATE'S Chair.

1 Spir. Hecate, Hecate, Hecate! O, come away! Hec. Hark! I am call'd ;-my little spirit, see, Sits in a foggy cloud, and waits for me.

2 Spir. Hecate, Hecate, Hecate! O, come away! Hec. I come, I come, with all the speed I may.Where's Stadlin?

3 Spir. Here;

Hec. Where's Puckle?

4 Spir. Here;

5 Spir. And Hoppo too, and Hellwaine too; 6 Spir. We want but you, we want but you.

Enter the Chorus of WITCHES.

Chor. Come

up

the count.

make
away,
Hec. With new fall'n dew,

From churchyard yew,

I will but 'noint, and then I mount.

1 Spir. Why thou stay'st so long, I muse.
Hec. Tell me, Spirit, tell what news?
2 Spir. All goes fair for our delight.
Hec. Now I'm furnish'd for the flight.

[HECATE places herself in her Chair.

Now I go, and now I fly,
Malkin, my sweet spirit, and I.
O, what a dainty pleasure's this,
To sail in the air,

While the moon shines fair,

To sing, to toy, to dance and kiss!
Over woods, high rocks, and mountains,
Over seas, our mistress' fountains,
Over steeples, towers, and turrets,

We fly by night 'mongst troops of spirits.

Chor. We fly by night 'mongst troops of spirits. [HECATE and the SPIRITS ascend, the WITCHES

exeunt.

ACT THE FOURTH.

SCENE I.

A Cave-in the Middle, a Cauldron boiling.

Thunder.

The Three WITCHES discovered.

1 Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
2 Witch. Thrice: and once the hedge-pig whin'd.
3 Witch. Harper cries;-'tis time, 'tis time.
1 Witch. Round about the cauldron go;

In the poison'd entrails throw.

Toad, that under the cold stone,
Days and nights hast thirty-one;
Swelter'd venom, sleeping got,
Boil thou first i'the charmed pot.
All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.
2 Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;

F

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.

3 Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw, and gulf,
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock, digg'd i'the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew,
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

All. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.

1 Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

Enter HECATE, SPIRITS, and the Chorus of WITCHES.

Hec. O, well done! I commend your pains ;

And every one shall share i'the gains.

And now about the cauldron sing,

Like elves and fairies in a ring,

Enchanting all that you put in.

Music and Song.

Hec. Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey;
Mingle, mingle, mingle,
You that mingle may.

Chor. Around, around, around, about, about; All ill come running in, all good keep out! 4 Spir. Here's the blood of a bat.

Hec. Put in that, put in that.

5 Spir. Here's Libbard's brain. Hec. Put in a grain.

6 Spir. Here's juice of toad, and oil of adder; Those will make the charm grow madder.

Hec. Put in all these ; 'twill raise a pois'nous stench! Hold-here's three ounces of a red hair'd wench. Chor. Around, around, around, about, about ; All ill come running in, all good keep out ! Hec. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes :

Open, locks, whoever knocks.

[Noise without.

[Exeunt all but the Three WITCHES.

Enter MACBETH.

Macb. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags?

What is't you do?

All. A deed without a name.

Macb. I conjure you, by that which you profess, (Howe'er you come to know it,) answer me

To what I ask you.

1 Witch. Speak.
2 Witch. Demand.

3 Witch. We'll answer.

1 Witch. Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths,

Or from our masters'?