Sounds of a trumpet and soldiers fighting offstage. KING DUNCAN enters with his sons MALCOLM and DONALBAIN, LENNOX, and a number of attendants. They meet a wounded and bloody CAPTAIN.
DUNCAN
Who is this bloody man? Judging from his appearance, I bet he can tell us the latest news about the revolt.
MALCOLM
This is the brave sergeant who fought to keep me from being captured. Hail, brave friend! Tell the king what was happening in the battle when you left it.
CAPTAIN
For a while you couldn't tell who would win. The armies were like two exhausted swimmers clinging to each other and struggling in the water, unable to move. The villainous rebel Macdonwald was supported by foot soldiers and horsemen from Ireland and the Hebrides, and Lady Luck was with him, smiling cruelly at his enemies as if she were his whore. But Luck and Macdonwald together weren't strong enough. Brave Macbeth, laughing at Luck, chopped his way through to Macdonwald, who didn't even have time to say good-bye or shake hands before Macbeth split him open from his navel to his jawbone and stuck his head on our castle walls.
DUNCAN
My brave relative! What a worthy man!
CAPTAIN
But in the same way that violent storms always come just as spring appears, our success against Macdonwald created new problems for us. Listen to this, King: as soon as we sent those Irish soldiers running for cover, the Norwegian king saw his chance to attack us with fresh troops and shiny weapons.
DUNCAN
Didn't this frighten our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
CAPTAIN
The new challenge scared them about as much as sparrows frighten eagles, or rabbits frighten a lion. To tell you the truth, they fought the new enemy with twice as much force as before; they were like cannons loaded with double ammunition. Maybe they wanted to take a bath in their enemies' blood, or make that battlefield as infamous as Golgotha, where Christ was crucified, I don't know. But I feel weak. My wounds must be tended to.
DUNCAN
Your words, like your wounds, bring you honor. Take him to the surgeons.
The CAPTAIN exits, helped by attendants.
ROSS and ANGUS enter.
Who is this?
MALCOLM
The worthy *Thane of Ross.
LENNOX
His eyes seem frantic! He looks like someone with a strange tale to tell.
ROSS
God save the king!
DUNCAN
Where have you come from, worthy thane?
ROSS
Great king, I've come from Fife, where the Norwegian flag flies, mocking our country and frightening our people. Leading an enormous army and assisted by that disloyal traitor, the thane of Cawdor, the king of Norway began a bloody battle. But outfitted in his battle-weathered armor, Macbeth met the Norwegian attacks shot for shot, as if he were the goddess of war's husband. Finally he broke the enemy's spirit, and we were victorious.
DUNCAN
Great happiness!
ROSS
So now Sweno, the Norwegian king, wants a treaty. We told him we wouldn't even let him bury his men until he retreated to Saint Colme's Inch and paid us ten thousand dollars.
DUNCAN
The thane of Cawdor will never again betray me. Go announce that he will be executed, and tell Macbeth that Cawdor's titles will be given to him.
ROSS
I'll get it done right away.
DUNCAN
The thane of Cawdor has lost what the noble Macbeth has won.
They all exit.
*"Thane" is a Scottish title of nobility.