Enter MACBETH and BANQUO. Macb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Ban. How far is't call'd to Fores?'-What are So wither'd, and so wild in their attire; That look not like the inhabitants o' th' earth, [these, And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught Upon her skinny lips: You should be women, 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' th' 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, 3 That he seems rapt withal; to me you speak not: And say, which grain will grow, and which will not; 1 Witch. Hail! 2 Witch. Hail! 3 Witch. Hail! 1 Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. A town near Inverness, where the king resided. The thaneship of Glamis was the ancient inheritance of Macbeth's family. 3 estate, possession, fortune. 2 Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 3 Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none : So, all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! 1 Witch. Banquo, and Macbeth, all hail! 1 Macb. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: No more than to be Cawdor. Say, from whence As breath into the wind.-'Would they had staid! That takes the reason prisoner?? Macb. Your children shall be kings. Enter Rosse and ANGUS. 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; Silenc'd with that, In viewing o'er the rest o' th' self-same day, Alluding to the qualities anciently ascribed to hemlock. He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, We are sent, Ang. 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 In borrow'd robes? Ang. [dress me Who was the thane, lives yet; But under heavy judgment bears that life Macb. Ban. That, trusted home," Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange; i. e. posts arrived as fast as they could be counted. • Perhaps thrusted home, i. e. carried as far as it will go. In deepest consequence.— Macb. Two truths are told, As happy prologues to the swelling act Of the imperial theme.-I thank you, gentlemen.- Cannot be ill; cannot be good:-If ill, My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, But what is not. Ban. Look, how our partner's rapt. Macb. If chance will have me king, why, chance Without my stir. Ban. [may crown me, New honours come upon him Like our strange garments; cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use. Macb. Come what come may; Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. Ban. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure. Macb. Give me your favour:-my dull brain was wrought With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king.- Meaning, the active powers. 2 i. e. in the table-book of his heart. 3 having weighed it in the interim. Ban. Very gladly. Macb. Till then, enough.-Come friends. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Fores. A room in the palace. Flourish. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, Dun. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not Mal. 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.-O worthiest cousin! Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, ROSSE, and ANGUS. 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 deserv'd; Are to your throne and state, children, and servants; instructed in the art of dying. |