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The Tragedy of Macbeth
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Act 1, Scene 3
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SCENE III. A heath near Forres.
Thunder. Enter the three Witches
First Witch Where hast thou been, sister?
Second Witch Killing swine.
Third Witch Sister, where thou?
First Witch A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap,
And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd:--
'Give me,' quoth I:
'Aroint thee, witch!' the rump-fed ronyon cries.
Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger:
But in a sieve I'll thither sail,
And, like a rat without a tail,
I'll d o, I'll do, and I'll do.
Second 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 qua rters that they know
I' the shipm an'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 c annot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-tost.
Look what I have.
Second Witch Show me, show me.
First Witch Here I have a pilot's thum b, Wreck'd as homeward he did come.
Drum within
Third Witch A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come.
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
MACBETH So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
BANQUO How far is't call'd to Forres? What are these
So wither'd and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't? Liv e you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her chappy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.
MACBETH Speak, if you can: what are you?
First Witch All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!
Second Witch All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!
BANQUO 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!
Second Witch Hail!
Third Witch Hail!
First Witch Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Second 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!
MACBETH Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:
By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis;
But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.
Witches vanish
Enter ROSS and ANGUS
ROSS The king hath happily received, Macbeth,
The news of thy success; and when he reads
Thy personal venture 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 everyone did bear
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence,
And pour'd them down before him.
ANGUS We are sent
To give thee from our royal master thanks;
Only to herald thee into his sight,
Not pay thee.
ROSS And, for an earnest of a greater honour,
He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor:
In which addition, hail, most worthy thane!
For it is thine.
BANQUO What, can the devil speak true?
MACBETH The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me In borrow'd robes?
ANGUS Who was the thane lives yet;
But under heavy j udgment 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 hi m.
MACBETH [Aside] Glamis, and thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind.
To ROSS and ANGUS Thanks for your p ains.
To BANQUO Do you not hope y our children shall be kings,
When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me
Promised no less to them?
BANQUO That trusted home
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Besides the thane of Caw dor. But 'tis strange:
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray's
In deepest consequence.
Cousins, a word, I pray you.
MACBETH [Aside] Two truths are told,
As happy prolog ues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme.--I th ank you, gentlemen.
Aside Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor:
If good, why do I yi eld to that suggestion
Whose horrid imag e doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings:
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.
BANQ UO L ook, how our partner's rapt.
MACBETH [Aside] If chance will have me king, why, chance may cr own me, Without my stir.
BANQUO New horrors come up on him,
Like our s trange garments, cleave not to their mould
But with the aid of us e.
MACB ETH [Aside] Come w hat come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
BANQUO Worthy Mac beth, we stay up on your leisure.
MACBETH Give me your f avour: my dull brai n was wrought
With things forgotten. Kind gentl emen, your pains
Are register'd where every d ay I turn
The leaf to rea d them. Let us toward the king.
Think upon what hath chanced, and, at m ore time,
The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak
Our free hearts eac h to other.
BANQUO Very gladly.
MACBETH Ti ll then, enough. Come, friends.
Exeunt
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The Tragedy of Macbeth
Act 4 Scene 1
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SCENE I. A cavern. In t he middle, a bo iling cauldron.
Thunder. Enter the three Witches
First Witch Thrice the br inded cat hath mew'd.
Second Witch Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Third Witch Harpier cries 'Tis time, 'tis time.
First Witch Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
D ays and nights has 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.
Second Witch Fillet of a fenny s nake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Liz ard'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 c auldron bubble.
Third Witch Scale of d ragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ra vin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
Liver of blasphem ing Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Silver'd in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe
D itch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's cha udron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.
ALL Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Second Witch Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
Enter HECATE to the other three Witches
HECATE O well done! I com mend your pains;
And every one shall share i' the gains;
And now about the c auldron sing,
Live elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.
HECATE retires
Second Witch By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wi cked this way comes.
Open, locks, Whoever knocks!
Enter MACBETH
MACBETH How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is't you do?
ALL A deed without a name.
MACBETH I conjure you, by that which you profess,
Howe'er you come to know it, answer me:
Though you unt ie the winds and let them fight
Against the churches; though the yesty waves
Confo und and swallow navigation up;
Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down;
Though castles topple on their warders' heads;
Though palaces and pyr amids do slope
Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of nature's ger mens tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken; answer me
To what I ask you.
First Witch Speak.
Second Witch Demand.
Third Witch We'll answer.
First Witch Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths,
Or from our masters?
MACBETH Call 'em; let me see 'em.
First Witch Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten
Her nine far row; grease that's sweaten
From the murderer's gibbet throw
Into the flame.
ALL Come, high or low; Thyself and office deftly show!
Thunder. First Apparition: an armed Head
MACBETH Tell me, thou unknown power,--
First Witch He knows thy thought: Hear his speech, but say thou nought.
First Apparition Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff;
Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.
Descends
MACBETH Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks;
Thou hast harp'd my fear aright: but one
word more,--
First Witch He will not be commanded: here's another,
More potent than the first.
Thunder. Second Apparition: A bloody Child
Second Apparition Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!
MACBETH Had I three ears, I'ld hear thee.
Second Apparition Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.
Descends
MACBETH Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee?
But yet I'll make assurance double sure,
And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live;
That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies,
And sleep in spite of thunder.
Thunder. Third Apparition: a Child crowned, with a tree in his hand
What is this
That rises like the issue of a king,
And wears upon his baby-brow the round
And top of sov ereignty?
ALL Listen, but speak not to't.
Third Apparition Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care
Who c hafes, who frets, or where conspirers are:
Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until
Great Birnam wo od to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.
Descends
MACBETH That will never be
Who can impress the forest, bid the tree
Unfix his earth-bound root? Sweet bodements! good!
Rebellion's head, rise never till the wood
Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath
To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart
Throbs to know one thing: tell me, if your art
Can tell so much: shall Banquo's issue ever
Reign in this kingdom?
ALL Seek to know no more.
MACBETH I will be satisfied: deny me this,
And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know.
Why sinks that cauldron? and what noise is this?
Hautboys
First Witch Show!
Second Witch Show!
Third Witch Show!
ALL Show his eyes, and grieve his heart;
Come like shadows, so depart!
