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Mer. Besides, I will be sworn, these ears of mine Heard you confess, you had the chain of him, After you first forswore it on the mart, And, thereupon I drew my sword on you; And then you fled into this abbey here, From whence, I think, you are come by miracle.

Ant. E. I never came within these abbey walls, Nor ever didst thou draw thy sword on me; I never saw the chain, so help me heaven! And this is false, you burden me withal.

Duke. What an intricate impeach is this! I think, you all have drank of Circe's cup. If here you hous'd him, here he would have been: If he were mad, he would not plead so coldly: You say, he dined at home; the goldsmith here Denies that saying: - Sirrah, what say you?

Dro. E. Sir, he dined with her there, at the Porcupine.

Cour. He did; and from my finger snatch'd that ring.

Ant. E. 'Tis true, my liege, this ring I had of

her.

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[Erit an Attendant.

Ege. Most mighty duke, vouchsafe me speak a word,

Haply, I see a friend will save my life,
And pay the sum that may deliver me.

Duke. Speak freely, Syracusan, what thou wilt. Ege. Is not your name, sir, call'd Antipholus ? And is not that your bondman Dromio?

Dro. E. Within this hour, I was his bondman, sir,

"the, I thank him, gnaw'd in two my cords: Now am I Dromio, and his man, unbound.

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Dromio, nor thou?

Dro. E. No, trust me, sir, nor I.
Ege.

I am sure, thou dost.

Dro. E. Ay, sir? but I am sure, I do not; and whatsoever a man denies, you are now bound to believe him.

Ege. Not know my voice! O, time's extremity! Hast thou so crack'd and splitted my poor tongue, In seven short years, that here my only son Knows not my feeble key of untun'd cares? Though now this grained face of mine be hid In sap-consuming winter's drizzled snow, And all the conduits of my blood froze up; Yet hath my night of life some memory, My wasting lamps some fading glimmer left, My dull deaf ears a little use to hear: All these old witnesses (I cannot err,) Tell me, thou art my son Antipholus.

Ant. E. I never saw my father in my life. Ege. But seven years since, in Syracusa, boy, Thou know'st, we parted: but, perhaps, my son, Thou sham'st to acknowledge me in misery.

Ant. E. The duke, and all that know me in the city,

Can witness with me that it is not so;

ne'er saw Syracusa in my life.

Duke. I tell thee, Syracusan, twenty years Have I been patron to Antipholus, During which time he ne'er saw Syracusa : I see, thy age and dangers make thee dote. Enter the Abbess, with ANTIPHOLUS Syracusa.i, and DROMIO Syracusan.

Abb. Most mighty Duke, behold a man much All gather to see him. Adr. I see two husbands, or mine eyes deceive

wrong'd.

me.

Duke. One of these men is genius to the other; And so of these: Which is the natural man, And which the spirit? Who deciphers them?

Dro. S. I, sir, am Dromio; command him away. Dro. E. I, sir, am Dromio; pray, let me stay. Ant. S. Egeon, art thou not? or else his ghost? Dro. S. O, my old master, who hath bound him here?

Abb. Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds, And gain a husband by his liberty: Speak, old Egeon, if thou be'st the man That had'st a wife once called Æmilia, That bore thee at a burden two fair sons: O, if thou be'st the same Egeon, speak, And speak unto the same Emilia!

Ege. If I dream not, thou art Æmilia;
If thou art she, tell me, where is that son
That floated with thee on the fatal raft?

Abb. By men of Epidamnum, he, and I,
And the twin Dromio, all were taken up :
But, by and by, rude fishermen of Corinth
By force took Dromio, and my son from them,
And me they left with those of Epidamnum:
What then became of them, I cannot tell;
I, to this fortune that you see me in.

Duke. Why, here begins his morning story right
These two Antipholus's, these two so like,
And these two Dromio's, one in semblance,
Besides her urging of her wreck at sea, —
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.
Antipholus, thou cam'st from Corinth first.

Ant. S. No, sir, not I; I came from Syracuse. Duke. Stay, stand apart; I know not which is which.

Ant. E. I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.

Dro. E. And I with him.

Ant. E. Brought to this town by that most fa

mous warrior

Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.
Adr. Which of you two did dine with me to-day?
Ant. S. I, gentle mistress.

Adr.

And are not you my husband? Ant. E. No, I say nay to that.

Ant. S. And so do I, yet did she call me sc;
And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,
Did call me brother: - What I told you then,
I hope, I shall have leisure to make good;
If this be not a dream I see and hear.

Ang. That is the chain, sir, which you had of Te

Ant. S. I think it be, sir; I deny it not.
Ant. E. And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.
Ang. I think I did, sir; I deny it not.
Adr. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail.
By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.
Dro. E. No, none by me.

Ant. S. This purse of ducats I receiv'd from you,
And Dromio my man did bring them me :
I see, we still did meet each other's man,
And I was ta'en for him, and he for me,
And thereupon these Errors are arose.

Ant. E. These ducats pawn I for my father here.
Duke. It shall not need, thy father hath his life.
Cour. Sir, I must have that diamond from you.
Ant. E. There, take it; and much thanks for
my good cheer.

Duke. With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast. [Exeunt DUKE, Abbess, ÆGEON, Courtezan, Merchant, ANGELO, and Attendants. Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard?

Ant. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou
embark'd?

Dro. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the
Centaur.

Ant. S. He speaks to me; I am your master,
Dromio :

Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon :
Embrace thy brother there, rejoice with him.
[Exeunt ANTIPHOLUS S. and E., ADR. and Luc.
Dro. S. There is a fat friend at your master's
house,

Abb. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains, That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner;
To go with us into the abbey here,

And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes :
And all that are assembled in this place,
That by this sympathized one day's error
Have suffer'd wrong, go, keep us company,
And we shall make full satisfaction. ·
Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail
Of you, my sons; nor, till this present hour,
My heavy burdens are delivered: -

The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me;
After so long grief, such nativity!

She now shall be my sister, not my wife.

Dro. E. Methinks, you are my glass, and not
my brother:

I see by you, I am a sweet-faced youth.
Will you walk in to see their gossiping?

Dro. S. Not I, sir; you are my elder.

Dro. E. That's a question: how shall we try it? Dro. S. We will draw cuts for the senior: till then, lead thou first.

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English forces.

Lady MACDUFf.

A Scotch Doctor.

An old Man.

Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth.

HECATE, and three Witches.

Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers,
Attendants, and Messengers.

The Ghost of Banquo, and several other Apparitions.

SCENE, in the end of the Fourth Act, lies in ENGLAND; through the rest of the Play, in SCOTLAND: and, chiefly, at MACBETH's Castle.

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An open Place. Thunder and
Lightning.

Enter three Witches.

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Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought
'Gainst my captivity: - Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil,
As thou didst leave it.

Sol.

Doubtfully it stood;
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together,
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald
(Worthy to be a rebel; for, to that,

The multiplying villainies of nature
Do swarm upon him,) from the western isles
Of Kernes and Gallowglasses is supplied;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: But all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth, (well he deserves that name,)
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smok'd with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion,

Carv'd out his passage, till he fac'd the slave;
And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

Dun. O, valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
Sold. As whence the sun 'gins his reflexion
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break;
So from that spring, whence comfort seem'd to come,
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark:
No sooner justice had, with valour arm'd,

3 Witch. And I another.

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Mal.

Enter Rosse.

The worthy thane of Rosse.

Len. What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look,

That seems to speak things strange.

Rosse.
God save the king!
Dun. Whence cam'st thou, worthy thane?
Rosse.
From Fife, great king,

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky,
And fan our people cold.

Norway himself, with terrible numbers,
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor

The thane of Cawdor, 'gan a dismal conflict:
'Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons,

Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm,
Curbing his lavish spirit: And, to conclude,
The victory fell on us;

Dun.

Rosse. That now

Great happiness!

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1 Witch. Where hast thou been, sister?

2 Witch. Killing swine.

3 Witch. Sister, where thou?

1 Witch. A sailor's wife had chesnuts in her lap, And mounch'd and mounch'd, and mounch'd: Give me, quoth I:

Aroint thee, witch the rump-fed ronyon cries.
Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o'the Tiger:
But in a sieve I'll thither sail,

And, like a rat without a tail,

I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do.

2 Witch. I'll give thee a wind.

1 Witch. Thou art kind.

1 Witch. I myself have all the other; And the very ports they blow,

All the quarters that they know?
I'the shipman's card.

I will drain him dry as hay:
Sleep shall, neither night nor day,
Hang upon his pent-house lid;
He shall live a man forbid :
Weary sev'n-nights, nine times nine,
Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine:
Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-toss'd.
Look what I have.

2 Witch. Show me, show me.

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1 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis !

2 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane

of Cawdor!

3 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter.

Ban. Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear

Things that do sound so fair?--I'the name of truth, Are ye fantastical, or that indeed

Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner You greet with present grace, and great prediction Of noble having, and of royal hope,

That he seems rapt withal; to me you speak not:
If you can look into the seeds of time,

And say, which grain will grow, and which will not;
Speak then to me, who neither beg, nor fear,
Your favours, nor your hate.

1 Witch. Hail!

2 Witch. Hail!

3 Witch. Hail!

1 Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.

2 Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier.

3 Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be

none:

So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!

1 Witch. Banquo, and Macbeth, all hail! Macb. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me

more:

By Sinel's death, I know, I am thane of Glamis;

Y

But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and, to be king,
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor. Say, from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetick greeting? Speak, I charge
[Witches vanish.
Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
And these are of them: Whither are they vanish'd?
Macb. Into the air: and what seem'd corporal,
melted

you.

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Rosse. The king hath happily receiv'd, Macbeth,
The news of thy success: and when he reads
Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight,
His wonders and his praises do contend,
Which should be thine, or his: Silenc'd with that,
In viewing o'er the rest o'the self-same day,
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
Strange images of death. As thick as gale,

Came post with post; and every one did bear
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence,
And pour'd them down before him.

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Macb. Glamis, and thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind. Thanks for your pains. Do you not hope your children shall be kings, When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me, Promis'd no less to them?

Ban. That, trusted home, Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange : And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths Win us with honest trifles, to betray us In deepest consequences.

Cousins, a word, I pray you.

Two truths are told,

Mach. As happy prologues to the swelling act

Of the imperial theme. I thank you, gentlemen.--
This supernatural soliciting

Cannot be ill; cannot be good : — If ill,
Why hath it given me carnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawder:
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair,
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings:

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man, that function
Is smother'd in surmise; and nothing is,
But what is not.

Ban.

Look, how our partner's rapt. Macb. If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,

Without my stir.

Ban.

New honours come upon him

Like our strange garments; cleave not to their

mould, But with the aid of use. Macb.

Come what come may;

Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. Ban. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your

leisure.

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Macb. Till then, enough.

Very gladly. Come, friends.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV. Fores. A Room in the Palace.

Flourish.

Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN
LENOX, and Attendants.

Dun. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not
Those in commission yet return'd?
Mal.

My liege, They are not yet come back. But I have spoke With one that saw him die: who did report. That very frankly he confess'd his treasons; Implor'd your highness' pardon; and set forth A deep repentance: nothing in his life Became him, like the leaving it; he died As one that had been studied in his death, To throw away the dearest thing he ow'd, As 'twere a careless trifle. There's no art,

Dun.

To find the mind's construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust. - · O worthiest cousin!

Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, ROSSE, and ANGUS.
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me: Thou art so far before,
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow

To overtake thee. 'Would thou hadst less deserv'd ;
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! only I nave left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.
Macb. The service and the loyalty I owe,
In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part

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