Page 21 - Macbeth Modern Translation
P. 21
Macbeth Modern Translation: Act 2, Scene 2
As soon as the King’s chamberlains passed out Lady Macbeth rang the bell
then went into the dark courtyard to wait for her husband. She was excited:
she had drunk some wine and it had filled her with fire.
What was that!
No it was nothing: only an owl.
The sound of snoring came to her. It meant the doors were open! He had
done it! The doors were open and their snores were pouring down the stairs
from the bed chambers.
‘Who’s there?’
Her husband’s voice! They had woken up and he hadn’t done it! They had
been caught in the attempt, not the deed itself! How could he have missed
the daggers? She had lain them out, ready. It was so easy: if Duncan hadn’t
looked so much like her father as he slept she would have done it herself.
There was a stumbling noise in the doorway and she rushed towards it.
‘My husband!’
‘It’s done! Didn’t you hear a noise?’
‘I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Didn’t you say something?’
‘When?’
‘Now.’
‘As I came downstairs?’
‘Yes.’
‘Listen. Who’s sleeping in the room next to his?’
‘Donalbain.
Macbeth dropped the daggers and peered at his hands in the dim light of his
wife’s torch. ‘This is a sorry sight.’
‘A foolish thought to say a sorry sight!’
‘Someone laughed in his sleep and another cried ‘Murder! ‘ And they woke
each other. I stood listening. But they said their prayers and went back to
sleep.’
‘Two of them are sharing a room,’ said Lady Macbeth.
Page | 21
