A year or two before Edward the Confessor began to rule England, a battle was won in Scotland against a Norwegian King by two generals named Macbeth and Banquo. After the battle, the generals walked together towards Forres, in Elginshire, where Duncan, King of Scotland, was awaiting them.
While they were crossing a lonely heath, they saw three bearded women, sisters, hand in hand, withered2 in appearance and wild in their attire3.
Please keep photo with html “Speak, who are you?” demanded Macbeth.
“Hail, Macbeth, chieftain of Glamis,” said the first woman.
“Hail, Macbeth, chieftain of Cawdor,” said the second woman.
“Hail, Macbeth, King that is to be,” said the third woman.
Then Banquo asked, “What of me?” and the third woman replied, “Thou shalt be the father of kings.”
“Tell me more,” said Macbeth. “By my father's death I am chieftain of Glamis, but the chieftain of Cawdor lives, and the King lives, and his children live. Speak, I charge you!”
The women replied only by vanishing, as though suddenly mixed with the air.
Banquo and Macbeth knew then that they had been addressed by witches, and were discussing their prophecies when two nobles approached. One of them thanked Macbeth, in the King's name, for his military services, and the other said, “He bade me call you chieftain of Cawdor.”
Macbeth then learned that the man who had yesterday borne that title was to die for treason, and he could not help thinking, “The third witch called me, 'King that is to be.'”
Please keep photo with html “Banquo,” he said, “you see that the witches spoke4 truth concerning me. Do you not believe, therefore, that your child and grandchild will be kings?”
Banquo frowned. Duncan had two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, and he deemed it disloyal to hope that his son Fleance should rule Scotland. He told Macbeth that the witches might have intended to tempt5 them both into villainy by their prophecies concerning the throne. Macbeth, however, thought the prophecy that he should be King too pleasant to keep to himself, and he mentioned it to his wife in a letter.
Lady Macbeth was the grand-daughter of a King of Scotland who had died in defending his crown against the King who preceded Duncan, and by whose order her only brother was slain6. To her, Duncan was a reminder7 of bitter wrongs. Her husband had royal blood in his veins8, and when she read his letter, she was determined9 that he should be King.
When a messenger arrived to inform her that Duncan would pass a night in Macbeth's castle, she nerved herself for a very base action.
She told Macbeth almost as soon as she saw him that Duncan must spend a sunless morrow. She meant that Duncan must die, and that the dead are blind. “We will speak further,” said Macbeth uneasily, and at night, with his memory full of Duncan's kind words, he would fain have spared his guest.
“Would you live a coward?” demanded Lady Macbeth, who seems to have thought that morality and cowardice10 were the same.
Please keep photo with html “I dare do all that may become a man,” replied Macbeth; “who dare do more is none.”
“Why did you write that letter to me?” she inquired fiercely, and with bitter words she egged him on to murder, and with cunning words she showed him how to do it.
After supper Duncan went to bed, and two grooms11 were placed on guard at his bedroom door. Lady Macbeth caused them to drink wine till they were stupefied. She then took their daggers12 and would have killed the King herself if his sleeping face had not looked like her father's.
Macbeth came later, and found the daggers lying by the grooms; and soon with red hands he appeared before his wife, saying, “Methought I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth destroys the sleeping.'”
“Wash your hands,” said she. “Why did you not leave the daggers by the grooms? Take them back, and smear13 the grooms with blood.”
“I dare not,” said Macbeth.
His wife dared, and she returned to him with hands red as his own, but a heart less white, she proudly told him, for she scorned his fear.
The murderers heard a knocking, and Macbeth wished it was a knocking which could wake the dead. It was the knocking of Macduff, the chieftain of Fife, who had been told by Duncan to visit him early. Macbeth went to him, and showed him the door of the King's room.
Please keep photo with html Macduff entered, and came out again crying, “O horror! horror! horror!”
Macbeth appeared as horror-stricken as Macduff, and pretending that he could not bear to see life in Duncan's murderers, he slew14 the two grooms with their own daggers before they could proclaim their innocence15.
These murders did not shriek16 out, and Macbeth was crowned at Scone17. One of Duncan's sons went to Ireland, the other to England. Macbeth was King. But he was discontented. The prophecy concerning Banquo oppressed his mind. If Fleance were to rule, a son of Macbeth would not rule. Macbeth determined, therefore, to murder both Banquo and his son. He hired two ruffians, who slew Banquo one night when he was on his way with Fleance to a banquet which Macbeth was giving to his nobles. Fleance escaped.
Meanwhile Macbeth and his Queen received their guests very graciously, and he expressed a wish for them which has been uttered thousands of times since his day--“Now good digestion18 wait on appetite, and health on both.”
“We pray your Majesty19 to sit with us,” said Lennox, a Scotch20 noble; but ere Macbeth could reply, the ghost of Banquo entered the banqueting hall and sat in Macbeth's place.
Not noticing the ghost, Macbeth observed that, if Banquo were present, he could say that he had collected under his roof the choicest chivalry21 of Scotland. Macduff, however, had curtly22 declined his invitation.
The King was again pressed to take a seat, and Lennox, to whom Banquo's ghost was invisible, showed him the chair where it sat.
But Macbeth, with his eyes of genius, saw the ghost. He saw it like a form of mist and blood, and he demanded passionately23, “Which of you have done this?”
Still none saw the ghost but he, and to the ghost Macbeth said, “Thou canst not say I did it.”
The ghost glided24 out, and Macbeth was impudent25 enough to raise a glass of wine “to the general joy of the whole table, and to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss.”
The toast was drunk as the ghost of Banquo entered for the second time.
“Begone!” cried Macbeth. “You are senseless, mindless! Hide in the earth, thou horrible shadow.”
Again none saw the ghost but he.
“What is it your Majesty sees?” asked one of the nobles.
The Queen dared not permit an answer to be given to this question. She hurriedly begged her guests to quit a sick man who was likely to grow worse if he was obliged to talk.
Macbeth, however, was well enough next day to converse26 with the witches whose prophecies had so depraved him.
He found them in a cavern27 on a thunderous day. They were revolving28 round a cauldron in which were boiling particles of many strange and horrible creatures, and they knew he was coming before he arrived.
“Answer me what I ask you,” said the King.
“Would you rather hear it from us or our masters?” asked the first witch.
“Call them,” replied Macbeth.
Thereupon the witches poured blood into the cauldron and grease into the flame that licked it, and a helmeted head appeared with the visor on, so that Macbeth could only see its eyes.
He was speaking to the head, when the first witch said gravely, “He knows thy thought,” and a voice in the head said, “Macbeth, beware Macduff, the chieftain of Fife.” The head then descended29 Into the cauldron till it disappeared.
“One word more,” pleaded Macbeth.
“He will not be commanded,” said the first witch, and then a crowned child ascended30 from the cauldron bearing a tree in his hand The child said--
“Macbeth shall be unconquerable till
The Wood of Birnam climbs Dunsinane Hill.”
“That will never be,” said Macbeth; and he asked to be told if Banquo's descendants would ever rule Scotland.
The cauldron sank into the earth; music was heard, and a procession of phantom31 kings filed past Macbeth; behind them was Banquo's ghost. In each king, Macbeth saw a likeness32 to Banquo, and he counted eight kings.
Then he was suddenly left alone.
His next proceeding33 was to send murderers to Macduff's castle. They did not find Macduff, and asked Lady Macduff where he was. She gave a stinging answer, and her questioner called Macduff a traitor34. “Thou liest!” shouted Macduff's little son, who was immediately stabbed, and with his last breath entreated35 his mother to fly. The murderers did not leave the castle while one of its inmates36 remained alive.
Macduff was in England listening, with Malcolm, to a doctor's tale of cures wrought37 by Edward the Confessor when his friend Ross came to tell him that his wife and children were no more. At first Ross dared not speak the truth, and turn Macduff's bright sympathy with sufferers relieved by royal virtue38 into sorrow and hatred39. But when Malcolm said that England was sending an army into Scotland against Macbeth, Ross blurted40 out his news, and Macduff cried, “All dead, did you say? All my pretty ones and their mother? Did you say all?”
His sorry hope was in revenge, but if he could have looked into Macbeth's castle on Dunsinane Hill, he would have seen at work a force more solemn than revenge. Retribution was working, for Lady Macbeth was mad. She walked in her sleep amid ghastly dreams. She was wont41 to wash her hands for a quarter of an hour at a time; but after all her washing, would still see a red spot of blood upon her skin. It was pitiful to hear her cry that all the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten her little hand.
“Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased?” inquired Macbeth of the doctor, but the doctor replied that his patient must minister to her own mind. This reply gave Macbeth a scorn of medicine. “Throw physic to the dogs,” he said; “I'll none of it.”
One day he heard a sound of women crying. An officer approached him and said, “The Queen, your Majesty, is dead.” “Out, brief candle,” muttered Macbeth, meaning that life was like a candle, at the mercy of a puff42 of air. He did not weep; he was too familiar with death.
Presently a messenger told him that he saw Birnam Wood on the march. Macbeth called him a liar43 and a slave, and threatened to hang him if he had made a mistake. “If you are right you can hang me,” he said.
Please keep photo with html From the turret44 windows of Dunsinane Castle, Birnam Wood did indeed appear to be marching. Every soldier of the English army held aloft a bough45 which he had cut from a tree in that wood, and like human trees they climbed Dunsinane Hill.
Macbeth had still his courage. He went to battle to conquer or die, and the first thing he did was to kill the English general's son in single combat. Macbeth then felt that no man could fight him and live, and when Macduff came to him blazing for revenge, Macbeth said to him, “Go back; I have spilt too much of your blood already.”
“I will not yield!” said Macbeth, but his last hour had struck. He fell.
Macbeth's men were in retreat when Macduff came before Malcolm holding a King's head by the hair.
“Hail, King!” he said; and the new King looked at the old.
So Malcolm reigned after Macbeth; but in years that came afterwards the descendants of Banquo were kings.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
reigned
|
|
| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
withered
|
|
| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
tempt
|
|
| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
slain
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
reminder
|
|
| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
veins
|
|
| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
cowardice
|
|
| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
grooms
|
|
| n.新郎( groom的名词复数 )；马夫v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的第三人称单数 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
daggers
|
|
| 匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
smear
|
|
| v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
slew
|
|
| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
innocence
|
|
| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
shriek
|
|
| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
scone
|
|
| n.圆饼，甜饼，司康饼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
digestion
|
|
| n.消化，吸收 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
majesty
|
|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
scotch
|
|
| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
chivalry
|
|
| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
curtly
|
|
| adv.简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
passionately
|
|
| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
glided
|
|
| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
impudent
|
|
| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
converse
|
|
| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
cavern
|
|
| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
revolving
|
|
| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
ascended
|
|
| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
phantom
|
|
| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
likeness
|
|
| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
proceeding
|
|
| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
traitor
|
|
| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
entreated
|
|
| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
inmates
|
|
| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
wrought
|
|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
blurted
|
|
| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
wont
|
|
| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
puff
|
|
| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
liar
|
|
| n.说谎的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
turret
|
|
| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
bough
|
|
| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
hacked
|
|
| 生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |