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As the weird women promised; 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? But, hush; no more.

Senet sounded. Enter MACBETH, as King; LADY
MACBETH, as Queen; LENOX, Rosse, Lords,
Ladies, and Attendants.

Macb. Here's our chief guest.
Lady M.

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

Macb. To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir, And I'll request your presence. Let your highness

Ban.

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 desired 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 bestowed
In England and in Ireland; not confessing
Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers
With strange invention: but of that to-morrow;
When, therewithal, we shall have cause of state,
Craving us jointly. Hie you to horse: Adieu,
Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you?
Ban. Ay, my good lord: our time does call

upon us.

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Macb. Bring them before us.-[Exit Attendant. Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves, are cleped

To be thus, is nothing;

But to be safely thus.-Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature

Reigns that which would be feared: 'tis much he

dares;

And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear: and under him
My genius is rebuked; as, it is said,
Mark Antony's was by Cæsar. He chid the sisters,
When first they put the name of King upon me,
And bade them speak to him; then, prophet-like,
They hailed him father to a line of kings:
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding. If it be so,
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered;
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,

To make them kings; the seed of Banquo kings!
Rather than so, come fate into the list,
And champion me to the utterance! Who's there?

Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers.
Now to the door, and stay there till we call.
[Exit Attendant.
Was it not yesterday we spoke together?
1st Mur. It was, so please your highness.
Macb. Well then, now
Have you considered of my speeches? Know
That it was he, in the times past, which held you
So under fortune; which you thought had been
Our innocent self. This I made good to you
In our last conference: passed in probation with you,
How you were borne in hand; how crossed; the
instruments;

Who wrought with them; and all things else, that might,

All by the name of dogs: the valued file
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The housekeeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous Nature
Hath in him closed; whereby he does receive
Particular addition, from the bill

That writes them all alike: and so of men.
Now, if you have a station in the file,
And not in the worst rank of manhood, say it;
And I will put that business in your bosoms,
Whose execution takes your enemy off';
Grapples you to the heart and love of us,
Who wear our health but sickly in his life,
Which in his death were perfect.

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That every minute of his being thrusts
Against my near'st of life: and though I could
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight,
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Whom I myself struck down: and thence it is
That I to your assistance do make love;
Masking the business from the common eye,
For sundry weighty reasons.

2nd Mur. We shall, my lord, Perform what you command us. 1st Mur. Though our livesMacb. Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour, at most,

I will advise you where to plant yourselves;
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time,
The moment on 't; for 't must be done to-night,
And something from the palace; always thought,
That I require a clearness: and with him
(To leave no rubs nor botches in the work),
Fleance his son, that keeps him company,
Whose absence is no less material to me
Than is his father's, must embrace the fate
Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart;
I'll come to you anon.

2nd Mur.
We are resolved, my lord.
Macb. I'll call upon you straight; abide
within.

It is concluded:-Banquo, thy soul's flight,
If it find heaven, must find it out to-night.

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Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Skarf up the tender eye of pitiful day;
And, with thy bloody and invisible hand,
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale !-Light thickens; and the

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2nd Mur. He needs not our mistrust; since he delivers

Our offices, and what we have to do,
To the direction just.

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The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day: Now spurs the lated traveller apace,

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Rosse. Gentlemen, rise; his highness is not well.

Lady M. Sit, worthy friends:-my lord is often thus,

And hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat;

The fit is momentary; upon a thought
He will again be well: if much you note him,
You shall offend him, and extend his passion:
Feed, and regard him not.—Are you a man?
Macb. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that
Which might appal the devil.

Lady M.

O proper stuff!

This is the very painting of your fear:
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said,
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts
(Impostors to true fear) would well become
A woman's story, at a winter's fire,
Authorised by her grandam. Shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all 's done,
You look but on a stool.

Macb. Pr'y thee, see there! behold! look! lo! how say you?

Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.—
If charnel-houses and our graves must send
Those that we bury back, our monuments
Shall be the maws of kites. [Ghost disappears.
Lady M. What! quite unmanned in folly?
Macb. If I stand here, I saw him.
Fy, for shame!

Lady M.

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Macb. What man dare, I dare: Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, The armed rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger; Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves Shall never tremble: or, be alive again, And dare me to the desert with thy sword; If trembling I inhibit, then protest me The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow! [Ghost disappears. Unreal mockery, hence!-Why, so: being gone, I am a man again.-Pray you, sit still. Lady M. You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting,

With most admired disorder.

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Len. Attend his majesty! Lady M.

A kind good night to all! [Exeunt Lords and Attendants. Macb. It will have blood, they say; blood will

have blood;

Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak;

Augurs, and understood relations, have

By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks, brought

forth

The secret'st man of blood.-What is the night? Lady M. Almost at odds with morning, which

is which.

Macb. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person,

At our great bidding?
Lady M. Did you send to him, sir?
Macb. I hear it by the way; but I will send :
There's not a one of them, but in his house

I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow

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