Mal. Oh, by whom?

Len. Those of his chamber, as it seem'd, had done't: Their hands and faces were all badg'd with blood, So were their daggers, which, unwip'd, we found Upon their pillows; they star'd, and were distracted; No man's life was to be trusted with them.

[Exeunt MALCOLM and DONALBAIN.

Macb. O, yet I do repent me of my fury, That I did kill them.

Macd. Wherefore did you so?

Macb. Who can be wise, amaz'd, temperate, and furious,

Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man :
The expedition of my violent love

Out-ran the pauser reason.-Here lay Duncan,
His silver skin lac'd with his golden blood;

And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature,
For ruin's wasteful entrance: there the murderers,
Steep'd in the colours of their trade, their daggers
Unmannerly breech'd with gore: Who could refrain,
That had a heart to love, and in that heart
Courage, to make his love known?

Ban. Fears and scruples shake us :

In the great hand of Heaven I stand; and, thence, Against the undivulg'd pretence I fight

Of treasonous malice.

Macb. And so do I.

All. So all.

Macd. Let's briefly put on manly readiness, And meet meet i' the hall together;

And question this most bloody piece of work,

To know it further.

All. Well contented.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

A Wood on the Skirt of a Heath.

Thunder and Lightning.

Enter the Three WITCHES, and a Chorus of WITCHES. 1 Witch. Speak, sister, speak,—is the deed done? 2 Witch. Long ago, long ago; Above twelve glasses since have run.

3 Witch. Ill deeds are seldom slow, Nor single; following crimes on former wait; The worst of creatures fastest propagate.

Chor. Many more murders must this one ensue;
Dread horrors still abound,

And every place surround,
As if in death were found
Propagation too.

1 Witch. He must,

2 Witch. He shall,—

3 Witch. He will spill much more blood, And become worse, to make his title good. Chor. He must, he will spill much more blood, And become worse, to make his title good. 1 Witch. Now let's dance.

2 Witch. Agreed.

3 Witch. Agreed.

Chor. We should rejoice when good kings bleed. 1 Witch. When cattle die, about we go;

When lightning and dread thunder

Rend stubborn rocks in sunder,

And fill the world with wonder,
What should we do?

Chor: Rejoice, we should rejoice.

2 Witch. When winds and waves are warring, Earthquakes the mountains tearing,

And monarchs die despairing,

What should we do?

Chor. Rejoice, we should rejoice.

3 Witch. Let's have a dance upon the heath, We gain more life by Duncan's death.

1 Witch. Sometimes like brinded cats we show, Having no music but our mew,

To which we dance in some old mill,
Upon the hopper, stone, or wheel,

To some old saw, or bardish rhime,—

Chor. Where still the mill-clack does keep time. 2 Witch. Sometimes about a hollow tree, Around, around, around dance we; Thither the chirping cricket comes, And beetles singing drowsy hums; Sometimes we dance o'er ferns or furze, To howls of wolves, or barks of curs; And when with none of these we meet,

Chor. We dance to the echoes of our feet. 3 Witch. At the night raven's dismal voice, When others tremble, we rejoice.

Chor. And nimbly, nimbly, dance we still, To th' echoes from a hollow hill.

[Exeunt.

ACT THE THIRD.

SCENE I.

MACBETH'S Castle at Inverness.

Enter MACDUFF, meeting LENOX.

Len. How goes the world, sir, now?
Macd. Why, see you not?

Len. Is 't known, who did this more than bloody

deed?

Macd. Those that Macbeth hath slain.

Len. Alas, the day!

What good could they pretend?

Macd. They were suborn'd:

Malcolm and Donalbain, the King's two sons,

Are stol'n away and fled: which puts upon them
Suspicion of the deed.

Len. 'Gainst nature still;
Thriftless ambition, that will ravin up

Thine own life's means.-Then 'tis most like,
The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth.

Macd. He is already nam'd; and gone to Scone, To be invested.

Len. Where is Duncan's body?

Macd. Carried to Colmes-kill;

The sacred storehouse of his predecessors,

And guardian of his bones.

Len. Will you to Scone?

Macd. No, cousin, I'll to Fife.

Len. Well, I will thither.

Macd. Well, may you see things well done there; -adieu !

Lest our old robes sit easier than our new! [Exeunt.

SCENE II.

The Palace at Fores.

Enter BANQUO and FLEANCE.

Ban. Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promis'd; and, I fear, Thou play'dst most foully for't: yet it was said, It should not stand in thy posterity:

But that myself should be the root, and father
Of many kings; If there come truth from them,
(As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine,)
Why, by the verities on thee made good,
May they not be my oracles as well,

And set me up in hope?—

[Flourish of Trumpets and Drums.

But, hush; no more.

Enter MACBETH, as KING; SEYTON, LENOX, ROSSE, and ATTENDANTS.

Macb. Here's our chief guest:

If he had been forgotten,

It had been as a gap in our great feast,
And all things unbecoming.—

To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir,

And I'll request your presence.

Ban. Let your highness

Command upon me; to the which, my duties
Are with a most indissoluble tie

For ever knit.

Macb. Ride you this afternoon?

Ban. Ay, my good lord.

Macb. We should have else desir'd your good advice

(Which still hath been both grave and prosperous,) In this day's council; but we'll take to-morrow. Is't far you ride?

Ban. As far, my lord, as will fill up the time "Twixt this and supper: go not my horse the better, I must become a borrower of the night,

For a dark hour, or twain.

Macb. Fail not our feast.

Ban. My lord, I will not.

Macb. We hear, our bloody cousins are bestow'd In England, and in Ireland; not confessing Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers

With strange invention: But of that to-morrow;