No Fear Shakespeare
Macbeth
Act 3, Scene 4, Page 2
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FIRST MURDERER
My lord, his throat is cut. That I did for him.
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FIRST MURDERER
My lord, his throat is cut. I did that to him.
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MACBETH
Thou art the best o' th' cutthroats:
Yet he’s good that did the like for Fleance.
If thou didst it, thou art the nonpareil.
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MACBETH
You are the best of the cutthroats. But whoever did the same to
Fleance must also be good. If you cut both their throats, then you
are the absolute best.
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FIRST MURDERER
Most royal sir, Fleance is ’scaped.
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FIRST MURDERER
Most royal sir, Fleance has escaped.
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MACBETH
Then comes my fit again. I had else been perfect,
Whole as the marble, founded as the rock,
As broad and general as the casing air.
But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears.—But Banquo’s
safe?
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MACBETH
Now I’m scared again. Otherwise I would have been
perfect, as solid as a piece of marble, as firm as a rock, as free
as the air itself. But now I’m all tangled up with doubts
and fears. But Banquo’s been taken care of?
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FIRST MURDERER
Ay, my good lord. Safe in a ditch he bides,
With twenty trenchèd gashes on his head,
The least a death to nature.
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FIRST MURDERER
Yes, my good lord. He’s lying dead in a ditch, with
twenty deep gashes in his head, any one of which would have been
enough to kill him.
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MACBETH
Thanks
for that.
There the grown serpent lies. The worm that’s fled
Hath nature that in time will venom breed;
No teeth for th' present. Get thee gone. Tomorrow
We’ll hear ourselves again.
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MACBETH
Thanks for that. The adult snake lies in the ditch. The young
snake that escaped will in time become poisonous and threatening,
but for now he has no fangs. Get out of here. I’ll talk to
you again tomorrow.
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Exit FIRST MURDERER
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The FIRST MURDERER
exits. |
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LADY MACBETH
My
royal lord,
You do not give the cheer. The feast is sold
That is not often vouched, while ’tis a-making,
'Tis given with welcome. To feed were best at home;
From thence, the sauce to meat is ceremony;
Meeting were bare without it.
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LADY MACBETH
My royal lord, you’re not entertaining the guests. If you
don’t make your guests know they’re welcome,
they’ll feel like they’re paying for their meal.
When you just want to eat, it’s better to do that at home.
When you’re eating out with people, you need to have a
little more ceremony. Otherwise dinner parties would be
boring.
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