A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder. The three WITCHES enter.
FIRST WITCH
The tawny cat has meowed three times.
SECOND WITCH
Three times. And the hedgehog has whined once.
THIRD WITCH
My spirit friend, Harpier, is yelling, "It's time, it's time!"
FIRST WITCH
Dance around the cauldron and throw in the poisoned entrails. (holding up a toad) You'll go in first—a toad that sat under a cold rock for a month, oozing poison from its pores.
ALL
Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
SECOND WITCH
(holding something up) We'll boil you in the cauldron next—a slice of swamp snake. All the rest of you in too: a newt's eye, a frog's tongue, fur from a bat, a dog's tongue, the forked tongue of an adder, the stinger of a burrowing worm, a lizard's leg, an owl's wing. (speaking to the ingredients) Make a charm to cause powerful trouble, and boil and bubble like a broth of hell.
ALL
Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
THIRD WITCH
Here come some more ingredients: the scale of a dragon, a wolf's tooth, a witch's mummified flesh, the gullet and stomach of a ravenous shark, a root of hemlock that was dug up in the dark, a Jew's liver, a goat's bile, some twigs of yew that were broken off during a lunar eclipse, a Turk's nose, a Tartar's lips, the finger of a baby that was strangled as a prostitute gave birth to it in a ditch. (to the ingredients) Make this potion thick and gluey. (to the other WITCHES) Now let's add a tiger's entrails to the mix.
ALL
Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
SECOND WITCH
We'll cool the mixture with baboon blood. After that the charm is finished.
HECATE enters with three other WITCHES.
HECATE
Well done! I admire your efforts, and all of you will share the rewards. Now come sing around the cauldron like a ring of elves and fairies, enchanting everything you put in.
Music plays and the six WITCHES sing a song called "Black Spirits." HECATE leaves.
SECOND WITCH
I can tell that something wicked is coming by the tingling in my thumbs. Doors, open up for whoever is knocking!
MACBETH enters.
MACBETH
What's going on here, you secret, evil, midnight hags? What are you doing?
ALL
Something there isn't a word for.
MACBETH
I don't know how you know the things you do, but I insist that you answer my questions. I command you in the name of whatever dark powers you serve. I don't care if you unleash violent winds that tear down churches, make the foamy waves overwhelm ships and send sailors to their deaths, flatten crops and trees, make castles fall down on their inhabitants' heads, make palaces and pyramids collapse, and mix up everything in nature. Tell me what I want to know.
FIRST WITCH
Speak.
SECOND WITCH
Demand.
THIRD WITCH
We'll answer.
FIRST WITCH
Would you rather hear these things from our mouths or from our master's?
MACBETH
Call them. Let me see them.
FIRST WITCH
Pour in the blood of a sow who has eaten her nine offspring. Take the sweat of a murderer on the gallows and throw it into the flame.
ALL
Come, high or low spirits. Show yourself and what you do.
Thunder. The FIRST APPARITION appears, looking like a head with an armored helmet.
MACBETH
Tell me, you unknown power—
FIRST WITCH
He can read your thoughts. Listen, but don't speak.
FIRST APPARITION
Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. Let me go. Enough.
The FIRST APPARITION descends.
MACBETH
Whatever you are, thanks for your advice. You have guessed exactly what I feared. But one word more—
FIRST WITCH
He will not be commanded by you. Here's another, stronger than the first.
Thunder. The SECOND APPARITION appears, looking like a bloody child.
SECOND APPARITION
Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!
MACBETH
If I had three ears I'd listen with all three.
SECOND APPARITION
Be violent, bold, and firm. Laugh at the power of other men, because nobody born from a woman will ever harm Macbeth.
The SECOND APPARITION descends.
MACBETH
Then I don't need to kill Macduff. I have no reason to fear him. But even so, I'll make doubly sure. I'll guarantee my own fate by having you killed, Macduff. That way I can conquer my own fear and sleep easy at night.
Thunder. The THIRD APPARITION appears, in the form of a child with a crown on his head and a tree in his hand.
What is this spirit that looks like the son of a king and wears a crown on his young head?
ALL
Listen but don't speak to it.
THIRD APPARITION
Be brave like the lion and proud. Don't even worry about who hates you, who resents you, and who conspires against you. Macbeth will never be defeated until Birnam Wood marches to fight you at Dunsinane Hill.
The THIRD APPARITION descends.
MACBETH
That will never happen. Who can command the forest and make the trees pull their roots out of the earth? These were sweet omens! Good! My murders will never come back to threaten me until the forest of Birnam gets up and moves, and I will be king for my entire natural life. But my heart is still throbbing to know one thing. Tell me, if your dark powers can see this far: will Banquo's sons ever reign in this kingdom?
ALL
Don't try to find out more.
MACBETH
I demand to be satisfied. If you refuse, let an eternal curse fall on you. Let me know. Why is that cauldron sinking? And what is that music?
Hautboys play music for a ceremonial procession.
FIRST WITCH
Show.
SECOND WITCH
Show.
THIRD WITCH
Show.
ALL
Show him and make him grieve. Come like shadows and depart in the same way!
Eight kings march across the stage, the last one with a mirror in his hand, followed by the GHOST OF BANQUO.
MACBETH
You look too much like the ghost of Banquo. Go away! (to the first) Your crown hurts my eyes. (to the second) Your blond hair, which looks like another crown underneath the one you're wearing, looks just like the first king's hair. Now I see a third king who looks just like the second. Filthy hags! Why are you showing me this? A fourth! My eyes are bulging out of their sockets! Will this line stretch on forever? Another one! And a seventh! I don't want to see any more. And yet an eighth appears, holding a mirror in which I see many more men. And some are carrying double balls and triple scepters, meaning they're kings of more than one country! Horrible sight! Now I see it is true, they are Banquo's descendants. Banquo, with his blood-clotted hair, is smiling at me and pointing to them as his.
The spirits of the kings and the GHOST OF BANQUO vanish.
What? Is this true?
FIRST WITCH
Yes, this is true, but why do you stand there so dumbfounded? Come, sisters, let's cheer him up and show him our talents. I will charm the air to produce music while you all dance around like crazy, so this king will say we did our duty and entertained him.
Music plays. The WITCHES dance and then vanish.
MACBETH
Where are they? Gone? Let this evil hour be marked forever in the calendar as cursed. (calls to someone offstage) You outside, come in!
LENNOX enters.
LENNOX
What does your grace want?
MACBETH
Did you see the weird sisters?
LENNOX
No, my lord.
MACBETH
Didn't they pass by you?
LENNOX
No, indeed, my lord.
MACBETH
The air on which they ride is infected. Damn all those who trust them! I heard the galloping of horses. Who was it that came here?
LENNOX
Two or three men, my lord, who brought the message that Macduff has fled to England.
MACBETH
Fled to England?
LENNOX
Yes, my good lord.
MACBETH
Time, you thwart my dreadful plans. Unless a person does something the second he thinks of it, he'll never get a chance to do it. From now on, as soon as I decide to do something I'm going to act immediately. In fact, I'll start following up my thoughts with actions right now. I'll raid Macduff's castle, seize the town of Fife, and kill his wife, his children, and anyone else unfortunate enough to stand in line for his inheritance. No more foolish talk. I will do this deed before I lose my sense of purpose. But no more spooky visions!—Where are the messengers? Come, bring me to them.
They exit.