SCENE II.-A Camp near Forres. Alarum

within.

Enter KING DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, and
Lenox, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Soldier.
Dun. What bloody man is that? He can

report,
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.
Mal.

This is the sergeant,
Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought
'Gainst my captivity.--Hail, brave friend !
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil,
As thou didst leave it.
Sold.

Doubtful it stood ;
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together,
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald
(Worthy to be a rebel ; for, to that,
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him) from the western isles
Of kernes and gallowglasses is supplied ;
And Fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth, (well he deserves that

name,) Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish'd steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valour's minion, carved out his passage, Till he faced the slave; And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to

him, 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 !

a

Sold.

Yes ;

Sold. As whence the sun 'gins his reflection 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, Compelld 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 Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo ? As sparrows, eagles ; or the hare, the lion. If I say sooth, I must report they were As cannons overcharged with double cracks ; So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe: Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or memorise another Golgotha, I cannot tell :But I am faint, my gashes cry for help. Dun. So well thy words become thee as thy

wounds; They smack of honour both.-Go, get him surgeons.

[Exit Soldier, attended.

Enter Rosse.
Who comes here?
Mal.

The worthy thane of Rosse.
Len. What a haste looks through his eyes !
So should he look that seems to speak strange

things. 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.

Great happiness! Rosse. That now Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition ; Nor would we deign him burial of his men, Till he disbursèd, 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.

Rosse. I'll see it done.
Dun. What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath

[Exeunt.

won,

SCENE III.-A Heath. Thunder.

Enter the three Witches. I Witch. Where hast thou been, sister ? 2 Witch. Killing swine. 3 Witch. Sister, where thou ? I Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts 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.
I Witch. Thou'rt kind.
3 Witch. And I another.

i Witch. I myself have all the other ;
And the very ports they blow,
All the quarters that they know
I'the shipman's card.
I'll drain him dry as hay :
Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his pent-house lid;
He shall live a man forbid :
Weary seven-nights, nine times nine,
Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine :
Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-toss'd.
Look what I have.

2 Witch. Show me, show me.

i Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wreck’d, as homeward he did come.

[Drum within. 3 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. Macb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Ban. 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? Live you ? or are you aught That man may question ? You seem to under

stand me,

By each at once her choppy 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?
I 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 tha 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 pre

diction 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.