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!
Sold. As whence the sun 'gins his reflexion
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break,
So from that spring, whence comfort seem'd to come,
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark:
No sooner justice had, with valour arm'd,

Compell'd these skipping Kernes to trust their heels,
But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage,

With furbish'd arms, and new supplies of men,
Began a fresh assault.

Dun.

Dismay'd not this

Yes;

Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?

Sold.

As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks;
So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,

But I am faint, my gashes cry for help.

Dun. So well thy words become thee, as thy wounds:
Go, get him surgeons.

They smack of honour both.

Who comes here?

Mal.

[Exit Soldier,

attended.

Enter Rosse and ANGUS.

The worthy thane of Rosse.

Len. What a haste looks through his eyes!

So should he look, that seems to speak things strange.
Rosse. God save the king!

Dun.

Whence cam'st thou, worthy thane?

Rosse. 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.

Rosse. That now

Great happiness!

Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition;

Nor would we deign him burial of his men,

Till he disbursed at Saint Colmes' Inch

Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

Dun. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive
Our bosom interest. Go, pronounce his present death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.

Dun. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.

SCENE III.

A Heath.

[Exeunt.

Thunder.

1 Witch.

Enter the three Witches.

Where hast thou been, sister?

2 Witch. Killing swine.

3 Witch. Sister, where thou?

1 Witch. A sailor's wife had chesnuts in her lap,

And mounch'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'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 do, I'll do, and I'll do.

2 Witch. I'll give thee a wind.

1 Witch.

Thou art kind.

Macbeth doth come.

All. The weird sisters, hand in hand,

Posters of the sea and land,

Thus do go about, about:

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

So wither'd, and so wild in their attire,

What are these,

That look not like th' inhabitants o' the earth,

And yet are on 't? Live 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.

Macb.

Speak, if you can. What are you?

1 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis ! 2 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! 3 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter. 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.

1 Witch.

2 Witch.

3 Witch.

Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Not so happy, yet much happier.

Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:

So, all hail, Macbeth, and Banquo!

1 Witch. Banquo, and Macbeth, all hail!

Macb. 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.
Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
And these are of them. - Whither are they vanish'd?
Macb. Into the air; and what seem'd corporal, melted
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.

Macb.

You shall be king.

And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so? Ban. To the self-same tune, and words.

Who's here?

Enter ROSSE and ANGUS.

Silenc'd with that,

Rosse. The king hath happily receiv'd, 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.
In viewing o'er the rest o' the self-same day,
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
Strange images of death. As thick as tale,
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,
To give thee from our royal master thanks;
Only to herald thee into his sight,

Not pay thee.

Rosse. 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.

Ban.

What! can the devil speak true?

Macb. The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me In borrow'd robes?

Ang.

Who was the thane, lives yet;

But under heavy judgment bears that life

Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combin'd

With those of Norway, or did line the rebel

With hidden help and vantage, or that with both