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Scene III
A barren heath. Thunder.

Enter the three Witches.

1st witch. Where hast thou been, sister?

2nd witch. Killing swine

3rd witch. Sister, where thou?

1st witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, And mounch [1] 'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'd.‘Give me, ' quoth I.‘ Aroint [2] thee, witch! ' the rump-fed ronyon cries. Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master the Tiger;But in a sieve [3] I'll thither [4] sail, And, like a rat without a tail, I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do.

2nd witch. I'll give thee a wind.

1st witch. Thou'rt kind.

3rd witch. And I another

1st 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 will drain him dry as hay:

Sleep shall neither night nor day,

Hang upon his penthouse lid;

He shall live a man forbid.

Weary se'nnights nine times nine

Shall he dwindle [5] , peak, and pine;

Though his bark cannot be lost,

Yet it shall be tempest-toss'd.

Look what I have.

2nd witch. Show me, show me.

1st witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wreck'd as homeward he did come. Drum within.

3rd witch. A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come. They dance in a ring.

All. The weird sisters, hand in hand, Posters of the sea and land, Thus do go about, about, Thrice [6] to thine and thrice to mine, And thrice again, to make up nine. Peace! The charm's wound up. They stop. Enter Macbeth and Banquo.

Mac. So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

Banquo. How far is't call'd to Forres? What are these So wither'd and so wild in their attire [7] , That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, And yet are on't? Live you? Or are you aught [8] That man may question? You seem to understand 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.

Mac. Speak, if you can. What are you?

1st witch. All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Glamis!

2nd witch. All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!

3rd witch. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!

Banquo. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that 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 prediction Of noble having and of royal hope, That he seems rapt [9] withal [10] , 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 favors nor your hate.

1st witch. Hail!

2nd witch. Hail!

3rd witch. Hail!

1st witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.

2nd witch. Not so happy, yet much happier.

3rd witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!

1st witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!

Mac. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. By Sinel's death, I know I am thane of Glamis;But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives,A prosperous gentleman; and to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief, No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence You owe this strange intelligence? or why Upon this blasted heath you stop our way With such prophetic [11] greeting? Speak, I charge you. The witches vanish.

Banquo. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd?

Mac. Into the air, and what seem'd corporal [12] melted As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd!

Banquo. Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner?

Mac. Your children shall be kings.

Banquo. You shall be king.

Mac. And thane of Cawdor too. Went it not so?

Banquo. To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here? Enter Ross and Angus.

Ross. The king hath happily received, 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. Silenced with that, In viewing o'er the rest o' the self-same day, He finds thee in the stout [13] Norweyan ranks, Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make, Strange images of death. As thick as hail Came post with post, and every one did bear Thy praises in his kingdom's great defense,And pour'd them down before him.

Angus. We are sent To give thee, from our royal master, thanks;Only to herald [14] thee into his sight, Not pay thee.

Ross. And for an earnest of a greater honor, He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor. In which addition, hail, most worthy thane! For it is thine.

Banquo. What, can the devil speak true?

Mac. The thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me In borrow'd robes?

Angus. Who was the thane lives yet, But under heavy judgement bears that life Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined With those of Norway, or did line the rebel With hidden help and vantage, or that with both He labor'd in his country's wreck, I know not;But treasons capital, confess'd and proved, Have overthrown him.

Mac. [ Aside ]Glamis,and Thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind. Thanks for your pains. [ Aside to Banquo ]Do you not hope your children shall be king, When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me Promised no less to them?

Banquo. [ Aside to Macbeth ]That trusted home, Might yet enkindle [15] 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 [16] , to betray's In deepest consequence. Cousins, a word, I pray you.

Mac. [ Aside ]Two truths are told, As happy prologues [17] to the swelling act Of the imperial theme. I thank you, gentlemen. [ Aside ]This supernatural soliciting [18] Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature? Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings:My thought, whose murther [19] yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function Is smother [20] 'd in surmise [21] , and nothing is But what is not.

Banquo. Look, how our partner's rapt.

Mac. [ Aside ]If chance will have me king,why,chance may crown me, without my stir.

Banquo. New honors come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave [22] not to their mould But with the aid of use.

Mac. [ Aside ]Come what come may, Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.

Banquo. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.

Mac. Give me your favor; my dull brain was wrought With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains 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.

Banquo. Very gladly.

Mac. Till then, enough. Come, friends. Exeunt.


[1] munch [mʌntʃ] v. 津津有味地吃

[2] aroint[əˈrɔint] int. 〈古语、废语〉走开(通常后接thee 或ye)

[3] sieve [siv] n. 筛网

[4] thither[ˈðiðə;θi-] ad. 向那里

[5] dwindle [ˈdwindl] v. 衰退

[6] thrice[θrais] ad. 三次

[7] attire [əˈtaiə] n. 服装

[8] aught [ɔ:t] n. 〈古语〉(无论)任何事物

[9] rapt [ræpt] a. 欣喜若狂的

[10] withal[wiˈðɔ:l;-ˈθɔ:l] ad. 〈古语〉 以此;与此

[11] prophetic [prəˈfetik] a. 预言的;预示的

[12] corporal [ˈkɔ:pərəl] a. 人体的

[13] stout [staut] a. 发胖的

[14] enkindle [inˈkindl] v. 煽起(欲望等)

[15] herald [ˈherəld] v. 宣布

[16] trifle [ˈtraifl] n. 琐事,小事

[17] prologue [ˈprəulɔɡ; -lɔ:ɡ] n. (戏剧的)开场白

[18] solicit [səˈlisit] v. 请求

[19] murther [ˈmə:ðə] n. 〈方言、废语〉 = murder

[20] smother [ˈsmʌðə] v. 使窒息

[21] surmise [ˈsə:maiz; sə:ˈmaiz] n. 猜测

[22] cleave [kli:v] v. 劈开 rl/GJiZSdhq3nNcyzj7t1nOzLqQr+gCPH9pnYlt7Db3Kf0J895JuuP4ezEipJKQp

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