Macbeth Act 1 Scene 2
A camp near Forres.
The Original
Plain Modern English
Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant.
Duncan
What bloody man is that? He can report,
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.
Duncan
Who's that man covered in blood?
Judging by the state of him, he can give us
the latest news on the rebellion.
Malcolm
This is the sergeant
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.
Malcolm
This is the sergeant —
a good, tough soldier who fought
to keep me from being captured. Hey, my brave friend!
Tell the king how the battle stood
when you left it.
Sergeant
Doubtful 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 villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him—from the western isles
Of kerns 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 smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which 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.
Sergeant
It could have gone either way —
like two exhausted swimmers clinging to each other,
dragging each other down. The merciless Macdonwald —
a born rebel, because every nasty quality
nature can produce
swarms all over him — got reinforcements
of foot soldiers and heavy troops from the western isles.
And Lady Luck smiled on his cursed cause
like she was his girlfriend. But none of it was enough.
Because brave Macbeth — and he's earned that title —
ignored the odds, and with his sword
steaming with hot blood,
carved his way through the battle like courage's favorite child
until he stood face to face with the scumbag.
He didn't shake hands. He didn't say goodbye.
He just unzipped the man from belly button to jaw
and stuck his head on our castle walls.
Duncan
O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
Duncan
What a hero my cousin is! A true gentleman!
Sergeant
As whence the sun 'gins his reflection
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
Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels,
But the Norweyan lord surveying vantage,
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men
Began a fresh assault.
Sergeant
But just as shipwrecking storms and terrible thunder
roll in from the east where the sun rises,
trouble came pouring from the exact place
things looked brightest. Listen carefully, King of Scotland:
the second our brave, righteous troops
sent those rebels sprinting away,
the King of Norway spotted his opening
and, with polished weapons and fresh soldiers,
launched a brand-new attack.
Duncan
Dismay'd not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Duncan
Didn't that rattle
our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Sergeant
Yes;
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorise another Golgotha,
I cannot tell.
But I am faint, my gashes cry for help.
Sergeant
Sure —
the way sparrows rattle eagles, or a rabbit rattles a lion.
Honestly, they were like cannons
loaded with double ammunition,
hitting the enemy twice as hard, twice as fast.
Whether they were trying to bathe in steaming blood
or make the place famous as a second Golgotha,
I honestly couldn't say.
But I'm fading — my wounds are screaming for help.
Duncan
So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;
They smack of honour both. Go get him surgeons.
Duncan
Your words suit you as well as your wounds do —
both are badges of honor. Someone get this man a doctor.
Exit Sergeant, attended. Enter Ross.
Duncan
Who comes here?
Duncan
Who's this coming?
Malcolm
The worthy thane of Ross.
Malcolm
The noble Thane of Ross.
Lennox
What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look
That seems to speak things strange.
Lennox
Look how urgent his eyes are!
That's the face of a man carrying wild news.
Ross
God save the king!
Ross
God save the king!
Duncan
Whence camest thou, worthy thane?
Duncan
Where have you come from, worthy thane?
Ross
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, began 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.
Ross
From Fife, great king —
where Norwegian flags mock our skies
and our people shiver at the sight. The King of Norway himself,
with a terrifyingly huge army,
helped by that absolute traitor
the Thane of Cawdor, launched a brutal assault —
until Macbeth, like the war goddess's own husband in battle-tested armor,
met him as an equal,
blade against rebel blade, arm against arm,
and crushed his arrogance. Long story short:
we won.
Duncan
Great happiness!
Duncan
Fantastic news!
Ross
That now
Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition:
Nor would we deign him burial of his men
Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's inch
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.
Ross
So much so that now
Sweno, Norway's king, is begging for a peace deal.
We wouldn't even let him bury his dead
until he paid us, at Saint Colme's Inch,
ten thousand dollars for the public treasury.
Duncan
No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive
Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.
Duncan
That Thane of Cawdor will never betray
my trust again. Go announce his immediate execution —
and greet Macbeth with his old title.
Ross
I'll see it done.
Ross
Consider it done.
Duncan
What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won.
Duncan
What he threw away, noble Macbeth has earned.
Exeunt.