Macbeth: Act 4, Scene 1 Translation

A side-by-side translation of Act 4, Scene 1 of Macbeth from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text	Translated Text
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library
Thunder. Enter the three Witches. FIRST WITCH Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed. SECOND WITCH Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whined. THIRD WITCH Harpier cries “’Tis time, ’tis time!” FIRST WITCH Round about the cauldron go; In the poisoned entrails throw. 5 Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights has thirty-one Sweltered venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i’ th’ charmèd pot. The Witches circle the cauldron. ALL Double, double toil and trouble; 10 Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.	On a dark and stormy night, the three witches are hanging out in a cave roasting marshmallows and chanting spells around a boiling cauldron.
SECOND WITCH Fillet of a fenny snake In the cauldron boil and bake. Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, 15 Adder’s fork and blindworm’s sting, Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. ALL Double, double toil and trouble; 20 Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. THIRD WITCH Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, Witch’s mummy, maw and gulf Of the ravined salt-sea shark, Root of hemlock digged i’ th’ dark, 25 Liver of blaspheming Jew, Gall of goat and slips of yew Slivered in the moon’s eclipse, Nose of Turk and Tartar’s lips, Finger of birth-strangled babe 30 Ditch-delivered by a drab, Make the gruel thick and slab. Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron For th’ ingredience of our cauldron. ALL Double, double toil and trouble; 35 Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. SECOND WITCH Cool it with a baboon’s blood. Then the charm is firm and good.	The witches cast all sorts nasty bits into the cauldron, from lizard's leg to the finger of stillborn baby. And of course they keep coming back to the snappy refrain, "Double, double toil and trouble," which really makes it feel like Halloween. Or a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen film.
Enter Hecate to the other three Witches. HECATE O, well done! I commend your pains, And everyone shall share i’ th’ gains. 40 And now about the cauldron sing Like elves and fairies in a ring, Enchanting all that you put in. Music and a song: “Black Spirits,” etc. Hecate exits. SECOND WITCH By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. 45 Open, locks, Whoever knocks.	Hecate enters, pleased with the witches' more serious approach this time around. After Hecate exits, the Second With announces "something wicked this way comes."
Enter Macbeth. MACBETH How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags? What is ’t you do? ALL A deed without a name. 50	Not surprisingly, Macbeth promptly follows. (So does a Ray Bradbury novel and cinematic adaptation, but not for another few centuries.)
MACBETH I conjure you by that which you profess (Howe’er you come to know it), answer me. Though you untie the winds and let them fight Against the churches, though the yeasty waves Confound and swallow navigation up, 55 Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down, Though castles topple on their warders’ heads, Though palaces and pyramids do slope Their heads to their foundations, though the 60 treasure Of nature’s germens tumble all together Even till destruction sicken, answer me To what I ask you.	Macbeth gives the witches some props for being able to control the weather and conjure crazy winds that batter churches, cause huge ocean waves to "swallow" ships, destroy crops, topple castles, and so on. Then he says he has some more questions about his future for them and he wants answers, pronto.
FIRST WITCH Speak. 65 SECOND WITCH Demand. THIRD WITCH We’ll answer. FIRST WITCH Say if th’ hadst rather hear it from our mouths Or from our masters’. MACBETH Call ’em. Let me see ’em. 70 FIRST WITCH Pour in sow’s blood that hath eaten Her nine farrow; grease that’s sweaten From the murderers’ gibbet throw Into the flame. ALL Come high or low; 75 Thyself and office deftly show.	The witches are happy to help. They throw some more tasty ingredients to the cauldron—pig's blood, the sweat of murderers—and call on spirits to come forward and answer Macbeth's questions.
Thunder. First Apparition, an Armed Head. MACBETH Tell me, thou unknown power— FIRST WITCH He knows thy thought. Hear his speech but say thou naught. 80 FIRST APPARITION Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife! Dismiss me. Enough. He descends. MACBETH Whate’er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks. Thou hast harped my fear aright. But one word more— 85 FIRST WITCH He will not be commanded. Here’s another More potent than the first.	When the witches have finished their brew, apparitions begin to appear and talk to Macbeth. First, an armed head warns him to beware of Macduff.
Thunder. Second Apparition, a Bloody Child. SECOND APPARITION Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!— MACBETH Had I three ears, I’d hear thee. SECOND APPARITION Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn 90 The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth. He descends. MACBETH Then live, Macduff; what need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, 95 That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder. Thunder. Third Apparition, a Child Crowned, with a tree in his hand. What is this That rises like the issue of a king And wears upon his baby brow the round 100 And top of sovereignty? ALL Listen but speak not to ’t.	The second apparition is a bloody child who says that Macbeth won't be harmed by anyone who was "of woman born." Um, well...that's pretty much everyone, right? Including Macduff. So really Macbeth figures he has nothing to fear. He welcomes this good but figures he might as well have Macduff killed anyway—you know, just to be sure.
THIRD APPARITION Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are. Macbeth shall never vanquished be until 105 Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him. He descends.	The third apparition is a child wearing a crown and holding a tree in his hand. The child promises that Macbeth won't be conquered until Birnam Wood marches to Dunsinane.
MACBETH That will never be. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earthbound root? Sweet bodements, good! 110 Rebellious dead, rise never till the Wood Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart Throbs to know one thing. Tell me, if your art 115 Can tell so much: shall Banquo’s issue ever Reign in this kingdom? ALL Seek to know no more. MACBETH I will be satisfied. Deny me this, And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know! 120 Cauldron sinks. Hautboys. Why sinks that cauldron? And what noise is this?	Macbeth's feeling pretty good about his situation. Sounds like he's safe unless someone who wasn't born from a woman can get to him at some point after the trees of the woods up and march to his castle. Not likely. And yet, he's still not satisfied. To be absolutely sure, he asks if Banquo's children will ever rule the kingdom. The witches warn him not to ask more questions, but he demands to be answered anyway.
FIRST WITCH Show. SECOND WITCH Show. THIRD WITCH Show. ALL Show his eyes and grieve his heart. 125 Come like shadows; so depart. A show of eight kings, the eighth king with a glass in his hand, and Banquo last. MACBETH Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo. Down! Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs. And thy hair, Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. A third is like the former.—Filthy hags, 130 Why do you show me this?—A fourth? Start, eyes! What, will the line stretch out to th’ crack of doom? Another yet? A seventh? I’ll see no more. And yet the eighth appears who bears a glass Which shows me many more, and some I see 135 That twofold balls and treble scepters carry. Horrible sight! Now I see ’tis true, For the blood-boltered Banquo smiles upon me And points at them for his. The Apparitions disappear. What, is this so? 140	All right, say the witches, but you're not going to like what you see. And Macbeth doesn't. He is not pleased when he's shown a line of eight kings, the last of which holds a mirror that reflects on many more such kings. One of the kings in the mirror happens to be holding two orbs. Brain Snack: King James I of England (a.k.a., King James VI of Scotland) traced his lineage back to Banquo and, at his coronation ceremony in England (1603) James held two orbs (one representing England and one representing Scotland). Furthermore, the play Macbeth was performed for James, so this bit was kind of a tribute to him.
FIRST WITCH Ay, sir, all this is so. But why Stands Macbeth thus amazedly? Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprites And show the best of our delights. I’ll charm the air to give a sound 145 While you perform your antic round, That this great king may kindly say Our duties did his welcome pay. Music. The Witches dance and vanish.	The witches tease Macbeth for looking so dumbstruck. He asked for it. They do another song and dance so they can't be accused of not entertaining him appropriately, and then they vanish.
MACBETH Where are they? Gone? Let this pernicious hour Stand aye accursèd in the calendar!— 150 Come in, without there. Enter Lennox. LENNOX What’s your Grace’s will? MACBETH Saw you the Weïrd Sisters? LENNOX No, my lord. MACBETH Came they not by you? 155 LENNOX No, indeed, my lord. MACBETH Infected be the air whereon they ride, And damned all those that trust them! I did hear The galloping of horse. Who was ’t came by? LENNOX ’Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word 160 Macduff is fled to England. MACBETH Fled to England? LENNOX Ay, my good lord.	Enter Lennox to find a perplexed Macbeth. Lennox tells Macbeth the news that Macduff has definitely run away to England, presumably to get some help for a rebellion.
MACBETH, aside Time, thou anticipat’st my dread exploits. The flighty purpose never is o’ertook 165 Unless the deed go with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: 170 The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool; This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool. 175 But no more sights!—Where are these gentlemen? Come bring me where they are. They exit.	Get your highlighter out because this next bit is important: Macbeth says that from now on, he's going to act immediately on whatever thought enters his mind—no more thinking and contemplating about the pros and cons of being bad. He's just going to do whatever the heck he feels like doing. Starting with...wiping out Macduff's entire family, especially his kids, since Macbeth doesn't ever want to see any little Macduffs running around.