The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 575
Are register'd where every day I turn
The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king.
Think upon what hath chanced, and, at more time,
The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak
Our free hearts each to other.
Please beg my pardon; I was deep in thought
with things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, the trouble
you took today is recorded in my mind, and when
I think back to this day, I will remember this. Let us
go see the king. Keep in mind what has happened,
and when time has passed and we have considered it,
let us speak what is in our hearts to one another.
BANQUO
Very gladly.
That sounds good.
MACBETH
Till then, enough. Come, friends.
Until then, enough. Come, friends, let’s go.
Exeunt
Forres. The Palace.
Flourish. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENNOX, and Attendants
DUNCAN
Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not
Those in commission yet return'd?
Has Cawdor been killed yet? Have those
sent to do the job returned?
MALCOLM
My liege,
They are not yet come back. But I have spoke
With one that saw him die: who did report
That very frankly he confess'd his treasons,
Implored your highness' pardon and set forth
A deep repentance: nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it; he died
As one that had been studied in his death
To throw away the dearest thing he owed,
As 'twere a careless trifle.
My lord,
they have not come back yet. But I spoke
with someone who saw him die, and they said
that he frankly confessed his treasons,
begged your forgiveness and said he was
deeply sorry: nothing in his life
became him like the leaving of it; he died
like someone who had learned how to throw
away the dearest thing he owned
as if it were nothing.
DUNCAN
There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
There’s no way to find the truth of someone in their face.
He was a man whom I trusted completely.
Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, ROSS, and ANGUS
O worthiest cousin!
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 deserved,
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.
My best cousin! The guilt of being able to thank you
enough was just weighing heavy on me: you
are so deserving of reward it can not come
to you fast enough. If you had deserved less,
then the gratitude and payment might have
been easier! All I can say it that you
deserve more than we can ever give to you.
MACBETH
The service and the loyalty I owe,
In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part
Is to receive our duties; and our duties
Are to your throne and state children and servants,
Which do but what they should, by doing every thing
Safe toward your love and honour.
The service and loyalty I owe repays
itself. Your highness’s part is to receive
our duties, and our duties are to your throne
and children and servants. We do what we should
by doing all things toward your love and honor.
DUNCAN
Welcome hither:
I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo,
That hast no less deserved, nor must be known
No less to have done so, let me enfold thee
And hold thee to my heart.
Welcome here.
I have nurtured your career and will strive
to make it fully grown. Noble Banquo,
you are no less deserving and should not receive
no less honor for doing what you did.
Let me bring you into my fold and
hold you in my heart.
BANQUO
There if I grow,
The harvest is your own.
If I grow there
it is to your credit.
DUNCAN
My plenteous joys,
Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves
In drops of sorrow. Sons, kinsmen, thanes,
And you whose places are the nearest, know
We will establish our estate upon
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter
The Prince of Cumberland; which honour must
Not unaccompanied invest him only,
But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers. From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.
My joy is so great it brings tears to my eyes.
Sons, kinsmen, thanes, and others who are near,
witness today that I will establish my kingdom
upon my oldest son, Malcolm, who will now be known
as the Prince of Cumberland. But he is not the only one
to be honored. Nobility, like stars, shines on all
deserving. Let us go to Inverness, where I
will be your guest,
MACBETH
The rest is labour, which is not used for you:
I'll be myself the harbinger and make joyful
The hearing of my wife with your approach;
So humbly take my leave.
I am so eager to be working for you that
resting is hard work. I will tell my wife
the joyful news of your arrival.
Allow me to take my leave.
DUNCAN
My worthy Cawdor!
My worthy Cawdor!
MACBETH
[Aside] The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
[Aside] The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step
on which I must fall, or else overcome,
for it lies in my way. Stars, hide your light;
do not shine on my deep and dark desires.
The eye may blink at the hand, yet when it is over
the eye will see what it fears.
Exit
DUNCAN
True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant,
And in his commendations I am fed;
It is a banquet to me. Let's after him,
Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome:
It is a peerless kinsman.
It’s true, my good Banquo, he is so valiant
and there is much to commend him. It
satisfies me. Let’s follow him. He has taken
care to go ahead and prepare for us.
There are very few as good as him.
Flourish. Exeunt
Inverness. Macbeth's Castle.
Enter LADY MACBETH, reading a letter
LADY MACBETH
'They met me in the day of success: and I have
learned by the perfectest report, they have m
ore in
them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire
to question them further, they made themselves air,
into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in
the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who
all-hailed me 'Thane of Cawdor;' by which title,
before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred
me to the coming on of time, with 'Hail, king that
shalt be!' This have I thought good to deliver
thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou
mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being
ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it
to thy heart, and farewell.'
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou'ldst have, great Glamis,
That which cries 'Thus thou must do, if thou have it;
And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone.' Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal.
‘They met me on the day of success: and I have
learned in the most perfect way that they know
more than men. When I tried to question them further,
they vanished into the air. While I stood in wonder,
messengers sent by the king arrived and hailed me
as the ‘Thane of Cawdor;’ which is exactly
what the witches called me, saying as well that I
will be king someday. I wanted to let you know
all of this, my dearest partner of greatness, so that
you may not lose out on the rejoicing by not knowing
of the greatness that is promised us. Hold it in your heart
and tell no one, farewell.’
You are the thane of Glamis and Cawdor, and you
will be king, as promised. But I fear your nature
is too kind to grab the opportunity. It’s not
that you are without ambition, it’s just that you
do not possess the malevolence required for it:
you would rather take the high road and do good
things; you would not lie and you would not cheat:
and yet you want things that do not belong
to you, great Glamis. You want them, but
you are not willing to do what is necessary
to have them. You wish them done for you.
Hurry home, so that I may say the words
you need to hear to give you strength and
encourage you to banish all that is keeping you
from getting what you want in this golden round.
Fate and supernatural forces both seem to agree
that you should be crowned king.
Enter a Messenger
What is your tidings?
What are you here to tell me?
Messenger
The king comes here to-night.
The king is coming here tonight.
LADY MACBETH
Thou'rt mad to say it:
Is not thy master with him? who, were't so,
Would have inform'd for preparation.
You must be crazy.
Is not your master with him? And, if that were so,
he would have informed us to prepare.
Messenger
So please you, it is true: our thane is coming:
One of my fellows had the speed of him,
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Than would make up his message.
So help me, it is true: Macbeth is coming.
Another messenger ran all the way here,
and—almost dead, he was so out of breath—
he managed to deliver the message.
LADY MACBETH
Give him tending;
He brings great news.
Tend to him.
He brings great news.
Exit Messenger
The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!'
The raven himself is hoarse
who tells of the fatal entrance of Duncan
into my castle. Come, sprits that tend
on mortal thoughts, make me more like a man,
and fill me from head to toe with the worst
cruelty! Make my blood thick,
stop up any feelings of remorse I may have,
so that no regret or guilt may visit me
and shake my sole purpose, or try to stop it.
Come to my motherly breast and make my milk
into poison, you murdering guardians,
wherever you wait unseen to witness
the evil! Come, thick night, and cloak
everything in the darkest smoke of hell,
so that this night does not see the wound it makes,
and heaven can not look through the darkness
and say ‘Stop!’
Enter MACBETH
Great Glamis! worthy Cawdor!
Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!
Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present, and I feel now
The future in the instant.
Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor!
You are greater than both and will hailed
in the future as king! You letters have taken
me beyond the ignorant present into
the future that feels like it is already here.
MACBETH
My dearest love,
Duncan comes here to-night.
My dearest love,
Duncan comes here tonight.
LADY MACBETH
And when goes hence?
And when does he leave?
MACBETH
To-morrow, as he purposes.
He says he will leave tomorrow.
LADY MACBETH
O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.
Oh, never shall the sun see tomorrow!
Your face, my thane, is like a book where on
e
can read that something is wrong. You need to
look like everything is all right at this time; bear
welcome in your eye, your handshake, the words
you say: look like an innocent flower, but be the
serpent that lies under it. He is coming and he must
be given care. You should put the night’s
events in my hands. All of the nights and days
of our future will be changed by what happens tonight.
MACBETH
We will speak further.
We will speak more about this.
LADY MACBETH
Only look up clear;
To alter favour ever is to fear:
Leave all the rest to me.
You should only appear clear—
to change at all favors fear.
Leave the rest to me.
Exeunt
Before Macbeth's Castle.
Hautboys and torches. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, BANQUO, LENNOX, MACDUFF, ROSS, ANGUS, and Attendants
DUNCAN
This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.
This castle has a good feeling about it.
The air is nimble and sweet, and
pleases the gentlest senses.
BANQUO
This guest of summer,
The temple-haunting martlet, does approve,
By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath
Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze,
Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird
Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle:
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed,
The air is delicate.
The summer season bird, the house martin,
likes it here. By staying here it proves
that the air here is as tempting as heaven’s