Macbeth

Many years ago in Scotland there lived a king named Duncan the Meek. His close relative was a man named Macbeth. Macbeth was a great lord and soldier, and he was very famous for his brave deeds. Recently, Macbeth had helped to defeat an army from Norway.

One cold evening, Macbeth and another general, Banquo, were returning from this great battle. They were walking over a large, dark field. Suddenly they saw three strange, old women standing in front of them. The women were dressed in black rags. They were incredibly old, but the strangest thing about them was they had long, white beards.

"Greetings, Macbeth, Lord of Glamis!" said one of the women.

Macbeth did not understand. The general was not a little startled to find himself known by such creatures. Then another witch spoke. "Greetings, Macbeth, Lord of Cawdor!"

Macbeth was not the Lord of Cawdor. He did not know why these women were honoring him with the name.

Finally, the third old woman spoke. "All bow before Macbeth. He will be King of Scotland!"

Macbeth was not the king. Were these old women ill, or crazy? Macbeth could never be king, unless King Duncan's sons died.

Then the strange women spoke to Banquo. "You are less than Macbeth, but you are much greater!" they cried. "You are not as happy as he, but you are much happier!" And one witch said, "You will never be King. Yet, your son will be King of Scotland, after you are gone."

Neither Macbeth nor Banquo understood the women's strange words. But suddenly, the women disappeared. Then the two men realized that they must be witches.

Macbeth and Banquo stood talking about what they had seen. Suddenly, they were interrupted by some messengers from King Duncan. "Lord Macbeth, we are pleased to tell you that you are now the Lord of Cawdor," they said.

Macbeth was amazed. It seemed that the witches were telling the future! He did not know what to say. He thought, "I wonder if the rest of the witches' words will come true.Could I be King of Scotland one day?" This idea pleased him.

To Banquo he said, "Don't you want your sons to become kings after me? How wonderful it would be if the witches' words came true!"

Banquo was more careful and cautious than his friend. He said, "You might want to be King, Macbeth, but be careful. Often, these witches do not tell the whole truth. Their wisdom is hard for mortal men to understand. Often, witches' stories lead men into great danger."

But Macbeth did not pay attention to his friend. He and Banquo continued their journey home. From that time on, Macbeth could not think of anything else except how to become King of Scotland.

Macbeth had a wife, called Lady Macbeth. She was a very terrible, evil woman. All she wanted was power. She did not care what she had to do to get it. When Macbeth told her the story of the witches,Lady Macbeth was delighted. "You and I will become the King and Queen of Scotland. We will kill King Duncan and his sons too, if necessary! This is meant to be. It is our destiny."

Macbeth was not so sure. He loved the idea of being King, but he did not want to murder anyone. But Lady Macbeth kept talking about it. "I say again, this is meant to be. The witches want you to murder King Duncan. If you do not, then our destiny will not come true!"

At this time, it happened that King Duncan came to visit Macbeth and his wife. He arrived with his two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain. With them were many other lords and ladies. King Duncan wanted to honor Macbeth for his bravery in the recent battles. King Duncan was very pleased with Macbeth's castle, which was quite beautiful. Lady Macbeth made sure to take good care of the King. She seemed to be sweet and beautiful, but inside, she was hard and evil. During their evening meal, the King gave Lady Macbeth a large diamond. He was very pleased with both Macbeth and his wife.

After the evening meal King Duncan grew tired and went to sleep. Two of his servants slept in his bedroom with him. Lady Macbeth had made sure to give the king's servants a lot of wine, so they would sleep deeply.

Some hours passed. Everyone went to sleep, or almost everyone. Now it was the time of night when the whole world seems dark and dead. It was the time when evil dreams disturb men's sleep. The only things awake were the wolf, and the murderer.

In her bedroom, Lady Macbeth was awake. She was thinking about how to kill King Duncan. Normally, she would not have killed anyone, because she was a woman. She had been able to persuade Macbeth to kill the King. But now she was afraid that her husband, Macbeth, would lose his courage and fail to do it. "Macbeth is too kind to murder anyone," she thought. He wanted to be King of Scotland, yet he was too weak to grab the power for himself. So Lady Macbeth would have to grab it for him.

She found a large, sharp knife. Quietly, she walked into the king's bedroom. The king's servants did not wake up. Lady Macbeth stood at the King's bed, looking at him. He was sleeping deeply. Lady Macbeth thought to herself, "There is something about him that reminds me of my own father. No! I cannot kill him. Macbeth must do it." She went to talk to Macbeth.

Meanwhile, Macbeth had been thinking about his task. "I could never murder the King. One reason is, I am the King's close relative. He is a guest in my house. I am supposed to protect him from anyone who would harm him. And I was going to kill him, myself!"

Macbeth also had a great respect for the King. "He is a good and wise ruler. He loves his people. Kings such as this are loved in Heaven. If he dies, Heaven will revenge his death. Besides, Macbeth had gained power from his friendship with the king. If Duncan was killed, what would happen to me?"

When Lady Macbeth found her husband, he had decided not to kill King Duncan. But Lady Macbeth was not a woman who gave up easily. When she wanted something, she got it. She was also very intelligent, and she knew Macbeth very well. She spoke to him for a long time. She gave many reasons why he should kill the King. "It will be over so quickly. It will only take a few minutes, and then we will be the rulers of Scotland!"

Then she pretended to be angry. "You are a liar. You promised to do this thing. I never break my promises. If I had a baby, it would not matter how small and sweet the child was. I would throw it on the floor and kill it, if I had sworn to do so!"

"We will blame the king's servants. You can put the knife in their hands. It will be so easy," she said.

Macbeth began to agree with his wife. He gathered up the courage to kill the King. He took the knife in his hand and walked to the King's room. But as he went, he saw another knife floating in the air, in front of him. Blood dripped from it. He tried to grab it, but it vanished. "It's only my mind. It's not real. I am only tired, and worried from this terrible business," Macbeth told himself.

Macbeth pushed his fears away and walked into King Duncan's room. He killed the King in one second. Just after he'd killed the King, the servants began to talk in their sleep. Macbeth hid in the shadows. One servant began to laugh. But the other cried out, "murder! God help us!"

Macbeth killed the servants too. He quietly left the room.

As he returned to his own room, he thought he heard a strange voice. "We will sleep no more! Macbeth has killed sleep. Glamis has killed sleep, so Cawdor will sleep no more. Macbeth will never sleep again."

Macbeth did not understand the meaning of these words. But he was very afraid.

Lady Macbeth was waiting impatiently for Macbeth. She was relieved to see that he had kept his promise and killed the King. She took the bloody knife and quietly returned to the dead King's room. She put some of blood from the knife on the servants' faces. Then she placed the knife in one of their hands, and left the room.

The next morning, the King was found to be dead. Macbeth and his wife pretended to be terribly sad. They told everyone that the servants had definitely killed the King. The proof seemed very strong. However, most people did not believe their story. "Macbeth had much more reason to kill the King. Why would those two silly servants do it?"

King Duncan's two sons ran away, afraid for their lives. Malcolm, the oldest son, went to England, while Donalbain went to Ireland.

So, with King Duncan's sons gone, Macbeth became King of Scotland. So the three witches' words had come true.

Macbeth and his wife were the most powerful people in Scotland. Yet they still thought about the witches' words. Macbeth was King, but his sons would not rule after him. Banquo was not King, yet Banquo's son would rule. This was very troublesome to Macbeth. He and Lady Macbeth, who was now Queen, decided to make sure the witches' story wouldn't come true. They would kill both Banquo and his son.

One night the new King and Queen had a great feast, and asked many lords and ladies to attend. Banquo and his son, Fleance, were also invited. The road to the King's palace was filled with criminals. Macbeth hired some of these criminals to kill Banquo and his son. The criminals killed Banquo, but Fleance was able to escape.

During the feast, the Queen was very charming. Everyone admired her beauty and manners. Macbeth talked with his lords. "Everyone in Scotland who is good and honorable is here with me, the King. I only wish my good friend Banquo were here also. Perhaps he has forgotten me! I hope nothing has happened to him."

Just then, to Macbeth's horror, the ghost of Banquo appeared. The ghost walked over and sat down in the chair which Macbeth was about to sit, staring at him. Macbeth was a brave man, but the sight of the horrible looking ghost made his face turn white. He could not speak, he was so afraid.

Of course, no one else in the room saw anything of the ghost. They watched Macbeth gazing upon an empty chair, trying to talk to the air, asking it questions, took it for a fit of wildness of his mind. Finally, the Queen ran over and grabbed her husband. "Be quiet," she whispered angrily. "You are only seeing things. You saw a knife in the air once, when you killed the King. Stop talking, or everyone will find out what we did!"

Then the Queen spoke to the guests. "I am sorry, my lords and ladies. Your King is ill; it is not serious, but you must leave now." Everyone soon left, wondering what was going on.

Since Macbeth and his wife had become King and Queen, they both saw and heard awful things. They had terrible dreams. Their biggest fear was that Fleance, Banquo's son, would return. They wanted to kill him, but they did not know where he was. They still had no children; if Fleance returned, he might kill them and become King of Scotland. They were always unhappy and afraid. One day, Macbeth decided to go and talk to the witches. They had told the future. Now, Macbeth wanted to know what would happen next.

Macbeth searched for the witches' home. Finally, he found them living in a dark cave. The witches could see the future, so of course they knew he was coming. When Macbeth arrived, the witches were preparing awful potions in a large pot. They used these potions to discover the future. The potion had many strange and interesting ingredients. Dogs' tongues, dragons' skin, and the finger of a dead child were only some. The witches boiled this potion in a large pot. When it became too hot, they poured the blood of a monkey on it. Then they added the blood of a pig that had eaten her babies. They used all these horrible things to make spirits appear. These spirits would then answer their questions about the future.

Macbeth asked the witches for their help in learning his future. "Do you want us to show you the spirits of the air?" they asked him. Macbeth was not afraid of the spirits, whatever they were. "Where are they? Let me see them!" he said.

Then the witches called the spirits. There were three of them. The first spirit appeared. It looked like a large, ugly head with no body. "King Macbeth!" it said. "You must watch out for Macduff, the Lord of Fife!"

Macbeth thanked the spirit. The Lord of Fife was a man named Macduff. Macbeth disliked Macduff, because he was powerful.

Then the second spirit came. It looked like a child, with blood running down its body. "King Macbeth, do not fear," it cried, "you may laugh at all men. No man who is born from a woman's body can hurt you. Be strong, firm, and cruel!"

"Then I will let you live, Macduff," cried Macbeth. "Why should I be afraid of you? But no! I must be certain that you can't hurt me. So I will kill you anyway, to stop my fears."

Then the third spirit appeared. It also looked like a child, but with a crown. In one hand, the spirit held a small tree. "King Macbeth, do not be afraid of anything. You will never be beaten, until the trees in the woods stand up and fight you."

"This is wonderful news," cried Macbeth. "For who can make the trees move? So I will live a normal life, and not be killed. But spirits, I must know one more thing. Tell me if you can ... will Banquo's son ever rule this country?"

Then Macbeth heard music in the air. Then eight men, who looked like ghosts, passed him. The last man was Banquo. Banquo, who was covered in blood, had a mirror in his hand. In this mirror, Macbeth saw the image of many more men, all walking. Banquo smiled horribly and pointed to the mirror. Then Macbeth understood that Banquo's son, and his descendants, would someday rule in Scotland. It didn't matter what Macbeth did.

The witches made the spirits disappear. They bowed to Macbeth and disappeared. From this time on, all Macbeth's thoughts were dark and terrible.

When Macbeth left the witches, he heard that Macduff had run away to England. Macbeth was frightened to learn that a great army was growing there. It was led by Malcolm, one of dead King Duncan's sons. The English army was planning to attack Scotland, for the purpose of destroying Macbeth. Malcolm wanted to be King of Scotland.

Macbeth was terribly angry. He went to Macduff's castle and killed Macduff's wife and children. He also killed anyone he knew to be friends with Macduff.

These horrible acts made Macbeth's people hate and fear him. Most people ran away to England, to join Malcolm and Macduff. The English army was strong and large, and it was quite close to Scotland now. Everyone wanted to see Macbeth dead and gone; all believed he was an evil king. Macbeth often thought of King Duncan, whom he had killed. He felt very jealous of the dead King, whom everyone had loved and honored.

During this dark time, Macbeth's wife the Queen went crazy. The knowledge that everyone hated her and Macbeth was hard for her. She felt guilty for the things she'd done. She often saw and heard things that weren't there. One night, she woke up to find blood on her hands. She tried to remove it, but it would not disappear. "Out, damn spot! Out, I say!" she screamed. A few minutes after this, the evil Queen killed herself.

So Macbeth had no friend to talk to, and no one to help him make plans. He wished to die, but he was afraid to. But when he learned that Malcolm's army was coming, he found some of his old courage. "I will die fighting," he said. But also, Macbeth remembered the words of the witches' third spirit. "No one can hurt me—they said so," said Macbeth. "I will be king of Scotland, until the trees stand up and fight against me." Macbeth locked himself up in the palace. It was a very strong, tall building. He would be protected for many days. He angrily waited for Malcolm's army to come. He did nothing but wait, and wonder, and be afraid.

One dark day, a servant came to Macbeth. The servant was pale and shaking with fear. "King Macbeth ... the forest is moving! I saw the trees moving! They are coming this way!

"Liar!" screamed Macbeth. "If you are lying, I'll hang you from a tree until hunger kills you. If you're telling the truth ... "

Macbeth stopped shouting. He began to doubt the third spirit's words. He didn't need to be afraid, unless the forest moved, they had said. And now, the forest was moving. All his plans seemed to be ruined.

"If you are telling the truth, then let us find our swords," said Macbeth. "There's no reason to stay here. I am tired of living! I wish to die in battle!"

Macbeth ran outside his bedroom, and the gate of his castle. He looked around at the ground. He saw a strange and frightening sight.

The spirit's strange words can easily be explained. When the English army came near to Macbeth's castle, Malcolm had an idea. He told all the soldiers to cut the branches off many trees. Then they would use the branches to hide behind. In this way, Macbeth would not know how many soldiers there were. It would frighten and confuse him. Macbeth's servant had seen this strange sight. So the spirits' words had come true, in a strange way.

Then a great battle began. Macbeth's army was extremely small. There were not many people who were still his friends. Still, Macbeth was a great warrior, and he fought bravely. He killed many English soldiers before seeing Macduff. He remembered the first spirit's words—"watch out for Macduff, the Lord of Fife." He was afraid, and tried to run away. But Macduff saw Macbeth before he could escape.

"Horrible, evil murderer! You killed my family!" shouted Macduff. "Now you will fight me, and then go to Hell!"

Macbeth did not want to fight Macduff, because he had already killed his whole family. But then he remembered the spirit's words, that no man who was born from a woman could hurt him. He gave an evil smile.

"You're wasting your time, Macduff," said Macbeth. "You can't harm me. No man can. I have a magical life. No ordinary man who was born from a woman can harm me."

"Fool! Your witches and spirits lied to you," said Macduff, smiling coldly. "Or they did not tell you the whole truth. I was not born from a woman; not like other men. I was cut out of my mother's stomach."

Macbeth was more afraid than ever. He now understood the mysterious wisdom of the witches. They had told him the truth, but it had a very different meaning than what he thought. "Men should never trust witches," he cried. "They say one thing, but mean something very different. Oh horrible life! I will not fight with you, Macduff."

"Then live," laughed Macduff. "All the people of Scotland will hate you and laugh at you. You will be a prisoner, and we will put a sign around your neck that says, "Murderer! Thief! He stole King Duncan's crown!"

"Never!" screamed Macbeth. "I will not live to see Malcolm become the King of Scotland! I will not live to be laughed at! Even if the forest walks, I will fight to the death!" and he attacked Macduff.

For a long time it seemed that Macbeth would win the fight. But suddenly, Macduff cut off the King's head. He gave it to Malcolm. Everyone was delighted to see that Macbeth was dead. That day, Malcolm, the dead King Duncan's son, became the good and right King of Scotland.

Happily, the witches' words to good Banquo did come true. Banquo's son Fleance had escaped from Macbeth. Fleance's descendants were all good and wise kings. These kings ruled in Scotland, and that family ended with King James the First of England. Under King James, the countries of England and Scotland were united.

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