Thou hast it now; King, Cawdor, Glamis, all
The weïrd women promis'd; and, I fear,
Thou plaid'st most foully for't: yet it was said,
It should not stand in thy Posterity;
But that my self 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. Trumpets sound. Enter Macbeth as King, Lady Macbeth, Lenox, Rosse, Lords and Attendants.

Macb.
Here's our chief guest.

Lady.
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.

Ban.
Lay your Highness'
Command upon me; to the which, my Duties
Are with a most indissoluble tye

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 it 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;
When therewithal we shall have cause of State,
Craving us jointly. Hie to horse: adieu,
Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you?

Ban.
Ay, my good lord; our time does call upon us.

Macb.
I wish your horses swift, and sure of foot:
And so I do commend you to their backs.
Farewel. [Exit Banquo.
Let ev'ry man be master of his time(20) ^note



'Till seven at night; to make society
The sweeter welcome, we will keep our self
'Till supper-time alone: till then, God be with you. [Exeunt Lady Macbeth, and Lords.

Manent Macbeth, and a Servant.
Sirrah, a word with you: attend those men
Our pleasure?

Ser.
They are, my lord, without the Palace-gate.

Macb.
Bring them before us—To be thus, is nothing; [Exit ser.
But to be safely thus.—Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep; and in his Royalty of Nature
Reigns That, which would be fear'd. '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 rebuk'd; as it is said,
Antony's was by Cæsar. He chid the Sisters,
When first they put the name of King upon me,
And bad them speak to him; then, Prophet-like,
They hail'd him father to a line of Kings.
Upon my head they plac'd a fruitless Crown,
And put a barren Scepter in my gripe,
Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding. If 'tis so,
For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my mind:
For them, the gracious Duncan have I murther'd:
Put rancours in the vessel of my Peace
Only for them: and mine eternal jewel
Giv'n 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 th' utterance!—who's there? Enter Servant, and two Murtherers.
Go to the door, and stay there, 'till we call. [Exit servant.
Was it not yesterday we spoke together?

Mur.
It was, so please your Highness.

Macb.
Well then, now
You have consider'd 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 conf'rence, past in probation with you:
How you were borne in hand, how crost; the instruments,
Who wrought with them: and all things else, that might
To half a soul, and to a notion craz'd,
Say, thus did Banquo.

1 Mur.
True, you made it known.

Macb.
I did so; and went further, which is now
Our point of second meeting. Do you find
Your Patience so predominant in your nature,
That you can let this go? are you so gospell'd,
To pray for this good man and for his issue,
Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the Grave,
And beggar'd yours for ever?

1 Mur.
We are men, my liege.

Macb.
Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men,
As hounds, and greyhounds, mungrels, spaniels, curs,
Showghes, water-rugs, and demy-wolves are cleped
All by the name of dogs; the valued file
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The house-keeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous Nature
Hath in him clos'd; 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.

2 Mur.
I am one,
Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world
Have so incens'd, that I am reckless what
I do, to spite the world.

1 Mur.
And I another,
So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune,
That I would set my life on any chance,

To mend it, or be rid on't.

Macb.
Both of you
Know, Banquo was your enemy.

Mur.
True, my lord.

Macb.
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 bare-fac'd 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 my self 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.

2 Mur.
We shall, my lord,
Perform what you command us.

1 Mur.
Though our lives—

Macb.
Your spirits shine through you. In this hour, at most,
I will advise you where to plant your selves;
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o'th' time,
The moment on't; (for't must be done to night,(21) ^note


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 your selves a-part,
I'll come to you anon.

Mur.
We are resolv'd, my lord.

Macb.
I'll call upon you straight; abide within. [Exeunt Murtherers.
It is concluded;—Banquo, thy Soul's flight,
If it find heav'n, must find it out to night. [Exit.

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