Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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Enter Banquo. BANQUO
Thou hast it now—king, Cawdor, Glamis, all
As the Weïrd Women promised, and I fear
Thou played’st most foully for ’t. Yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father 5
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. 10 Sennet sounded. Enter Macbeth as King, Lady
Macbeth, Lennox, Ross, Lords, and Attendants. | At Macbeth's new palace in Forres, Banquo, alone on stage, delivers a soliloquy: he's totally suspicious of Macbeth. But he does take the time to note that his part of the prophecy, regarding his royal seed, will also probably come true. Banquo pipes down when the newly crowned Macbeth, his lovely Queen, and a posse of noblemen enter the room. |
MACBETH
Here’s our chief guest. LADY MACBETH If he had been forgotten,
It had been as a gap in our great feast
And all-thing unbecoming. MACBETH
Tonight we hold a solemn supper, sir, 15
And I’ll request your presence. BANQUO Let your Highness
Command upon me, to the which my duties
Are with a most indissoluble tie
Forever knit. 20 MACBETH Ride you this afternoon? BANQUO Ay, my good lord. MACBETH
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 tomorrow. 25
Is ’t far you ride? BANQUO
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. 30 MACBETH Fail not our feast. BANQUO My lord, I will not. | Macbeth sweet talks Banquo, calling him his honored guest and requesting his presence at a fancy banquet to be held that night. Banquo says he will, of course, do whatever Macbeth asks. However, he won't be around to offer any advice this afternoon as he has errands to run. Macbeth oh-so-casually asks what Banquo will be up to, and finds out that he'll be riding off somewhere before the dinner, but that he'll definitely be back in time for the feast. |
MACBETH
We hear our bloody cousins are bestowed
In England and in Ireland, not confessing
Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers 35
With strange invention. But of that tomorrow,
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? BANQUO
Ay, my good lord. Our time does call upon ’s. 40 MACBETH
I wish your horses swift and sure of foot,
And so I do commend you to their backs.
Farewell. Banquo exits.
Let every man be master of his time
Till seven at night. To make society 45
The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself
Till suppertime alone. While then, God be with you.
Lords and all but Macbeth and a Servant exit.
Sirrah, a word with you. Attend those men
Our pleasure? SERVANT
They are, my lord, without the palace gate. 50 | Having obtained the information he needs, Macbeth changes the subject to the fact that the "bloody" Malcolm and Donalbain are suspiciously missing, and respectively hiding out with new friends in Ireland and England. Plus, it seems that Duncan's sons are busy "not confessing" to Duncan's murder—instead, they're spreading nasty rumors about their father's death. Macbeth adds a little BTW as Banquo eaves, asking if his son, Fleance, will be riding along with him that evening. Fleance will indeed be going, and upon hearing this, Macbeth bids them farewell. Everyone except for Macbeth and a servant leave the room. |
MACBETH
Bring them before us. Servant exits.
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 55
dares,
And to that dauntless temper of his mind
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and under him 60
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. 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. 65
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
And put a barren scepter in my grip,
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding. If ’t be so,
For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; 70
For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered,
Put rancors 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 seeds of Banquo kings. 75
Rather than so, come fate into the list,
And champion me to th’ utterance.—Who’s there? Enter Servant and two Murderers. To the Servant. Now go to the door, and stay there
till we call. Servant exits.
Was it not yesterday we spoke together? 80 | Macbeth has the servant call in the men he has waiting at the gate. Left to himself, Macbeth launches into a long speech about why it's necessary and good to kill his friend, Banquo. See, Macbeth is worried about Banquo's noble nature, wisdom, and valor. Plus, if the rest of the witches' prophecy comes true, Macbeth figures that he'll have sold his soul to the devil (by killing Duncan) only for Banquo's kids to take his crown. Not fair! He concludes his speech by inviting fate to wrestle with him, and says he won't give up until he's won or dead. Hm. It seems like it's getting a whole lot easier for Macbeth to think about murder... |
MURDERERS
It was, so please your Highness. MACBETH 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 85
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 90
might
To half a soul and to a notion crazed
Say “Thus did Banquo.” FIRST MURDERER You made it known to us. MACBETH
I did so, and went further, which is now 95
Our point of second meeting. Do you find
Your patience so predominant in your nature
That you can let this go? Are you so gospeled
To pray for this good man and for his issue,
Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave 100
And beggared yours forever? | The two men at the gate are brought in, and we discover that Macbeth intends for them to murder Banquo and his son while on their ride. Macbeth speechifies to the two murderers about how Banquo is their enemy and anything bad that has ever happened to them is surely Banquo's fault. Macbeth says that no turn-the-other-cheek Christianity is necessary here. |
FIRST MURDERER We are men, my liege. MACBETH
Ay, in the catalogue you go for men,
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels,
curs, 105
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves are clept
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 110
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,
Not i’ th’ worst rank of manhood, say ’t, 115
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. 120 | The murderers respond by saying that they are only "men," and then Macbeth uses the technique he learned while being berated by his own wife: he claims they're not real men if they're not brave enough to murder a man for their own good. |
SECOND MURDERER I am one, my liege,
Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world
Hath so incensed that I am reckless what
I do to spite the world. FIRST MURDERER And I another 125
So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune,
That I would set my life on any chance,
To mend it or be rid on ’t. MACBETH Both of you
Know Banquo was your enemy. 130 MURDERERS True, my lord. MACBETH
So is he mine, and in such bloody distance
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 135
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
Who I myself struck down. And thence it is
That I to your assistance do make love, 140
Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons. SECOND MURDERER We shall, my lord,
Perform what you command us. FIRST MURDERER Though our lives— 145 | Um...okay, say the henchmen. We'll do it. Their lives are pretty bad anyway. They're fine with taking a chance on eternal damnation. Macbeth says that Banquo is his enemy, too, and he'd do the kingly thing and just have him publicly killed, except that they have a lot of mutual friends, which might make things a little awkward at parties. |
MACBETH
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’ th’ time,
The moment on ’t, for ’t must be done tonight 150
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 155
Than is his father’s, must embrace the fate
Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart.
I’ll come to you anon. MURDERERS We are resolved, my lord. MACBETH
I’ll call upon you straight. Abide within. 160
Murderers exit.
It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight,
If it find heaven, must find it out tonight. He exits. | The murderers again say they'll do it, and Macbeth says he'll tell them where they need to be and when. Oh, and they'll have to kill the Fleance, too. Macbeth will be in touch shortly, but right now he has to go get ready for a dinner party. After they leave, Macbeth delivers a nice rhyming couplet indicating that if Banquo's soul is headed to heaven, it will arrive there tonight. |