Ross and Angus enter [R.].

Ross. The King hath happily received, Macbeth,
The news of thy success. Every post doth bear
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence.
Angus. We are sent

To give thee from our royal master thanks.
Ross. And, for an earnest1 of a greater honor,

He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor; In which addition,2 hail, most worthy thane! Banquo. [Aside.] What, can the devil speak true? Macbeth. The thane of Cawdor lives.

Angus. He who was the thane lives yet;

But under heavy judgment bears that life
Which he deserves to lose.

Macbeth. [Aside.] Glamis, and thane of Cawdor!

The greatest is behind. [To Ross and Angus.] Thanks for your pains.

[To Banquo.] Do you not hope your 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 Cawdor. 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 us

In deepest consequence.

Macbeth.

Let us toward the King.3

Think upon what hath chanced, and, at more time,
Let us speak

Our free hearts to each other.

1 earnest: token, pledge.

2 addition: new title.

3 Let us toward the King: let us go on toward the King.

Banquo.

Very gladly.

Macbeth. Till then, enough. - Come friends.

[Exeunt R.]

ACT II

[Prolog.] The courtyard of Macbeth's castle during the King's

visit. Banquo and his son; then Macbeth.

[Enter Banquo and Fleance with a torch, R.]

Banquo. How goes the night, boy?

[Exit.]

Fleance. The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.

Banquo. And she goes down at twelve.

Fleance.

Banquo. Hold,1 take my sword.

heaven:

I take it, it is later, sir.

There's husbandry2 in

Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.3
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep. Merciful powers,
Restrain in me the curséd fears that nature
Gives way to in repose!

[Enter Macbeth, and a Servant with a torch L.]
Give me my sword.

Who' sthere?

Macbeth. A friend.

Banquo. What, sir, not yet at rest? The King's a-bed.
He hath been in unusual pleasure, and

Sent forth large presents to your officers.
This diamond he greets your wife with,

1 Hold: wait.

2 husbandry: thrift.

3 that too: possibly his shield or dagger. It is evident that Banquo was not carrying his arms purposely, but only because he felt uneasy. 4 heavy summons: i.e. to sleep.

5 I would not: I do not want to.

Servant. Almost any member of the cast may be disguised in a black cloak to take this short part. The servant does not speak, and in the dark, his face need not be seen.

By the name of most kind hostess: he's shut up1

In measureless content.

Macbeth.

We were unprepared;

Our will has been mistaken for our deed.

Banquo. All's well.

I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters. Macbeth. I think not of them;

Yet, when we find an hour

We'll spend it in some words upon that business,
If you will grant the time.

Macbeth. [To Servant.] Go bid thy mistress, when my drink

is ready,

She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed.

[Exit Servant.]

Is this a dagger3 which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand? - Come, let me clutch thee.

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

1 shut up: wrapped up.

2 augment: increase.

3 Is this a dagger: This terrible flight of imagination, in which Macbeth thinks he sees a dagger in the air, is but the final step in Macbeth's many considerations of his design to murder King Duncan. On a previous occasion Macbeth said to himself:

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.

- A speech which could well be interpolated before this dagger soliloquy.

Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going,
And such an instrument I was to use.

Mine eyes are made the fools of the other senses,
Or else worth all the rest. I see thee still,

And on thy blade and dudgeon1 gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. - There's no such thing.
It is the bloody business which informs

Thus to mine eyes.

Now o'er the one half-world

[He draws his own dagger.]

Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtained sleep. Witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate's offerings,2 and withered Murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,

Whose howl's his watch,3 thus with his stealthy pace,
Towards his design moves like a ghost.

Thou sure and firm set earth,

Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate1 of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,

Which now suits with it. While I threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.
[A bell rings.]

I

go, and it is done; the bell invites me.

Hear it not Duncan; for it is a knell

That summons thee to heaven or to hell.

[Exit R.]

[A moment later he returns shuddering and with his dagger dripping blood. Exit L.]

[Curtain.]

1 dudgeon: handle, hilt.

2 Witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate's offerings: witches make sacrifice to Hecate (hek'āt or hěk'ȧ-tē), the queen of Hades.

3 watch: watchword.

4 prate (prāt): tell tales.

ACT III
Scene 1

[Prolog.] A hall in the palace of Macbeth, now King of

Scotland.

[Enter Banquo R.]

Banquo. Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,

As the weird women promised, and, I fear,

Thou play'dst most foully for it: yet it was said

It should not stand in thy posterity,

But that myself should be the root and father

Of many kings. -But hush! no more.

[Exit.]

[Enter Macbeth, as King, Lady Macbeth, as Queen, Lennox, Ross, Lords, Ladies,' and Attendants R.]

Macbeth. Here's our chief guest.

Lady Macbeth. If he had been forgotten,

It had been as a gap in our great feast.

Macbeth. Tonight we hold a solemn2 supper, sir,

And I'll request your presence.

Banquo. As far, my lord, as will fill up the time

"Twixt this and supper.

I must become a borrower of the night

For a dark hour or twain.3

Macbeth.

Banquo. My lord, I will not.

Fail not our feast.

Macbeth. Goes Fleance with you?

1 Lords, Ladies. If the number of supernumerary members of the cast is very limited, two or three lords and ladies may be enough.