Page 40 - Macbeth Modern Translation

Unto a dismal and a fatal end:
Great business must be wrought ere noon.
Upon the corner of the moon
There hangs a vaporous drop profound:
I’ll catch it ere it come to ground:
And that, distilled by magic sleights,
Shall raise such artificial sprites,
As, by the strength of their illusion,
Shall draw him on to his confusion.

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes ‘hove wisdom, grace and fear:
And you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.
Hark! I am called: my spirit, see,
Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.’

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Macbeth Modern Translation: Act 3, Scene 6

Lennox rode, alone, by an indirect route, to a late night meeting with a friend
about matters that deeply worried him and some other Scottish noblemen.
He wore a disguise.

He arrived at the castle of his friend and entered by a small gate at the side.
Over dinner he spoke cautiously at first.

‘In our former conversations I only hinted at these matters. I still say only that
things have been done in a strange way. Macbeth pitied the gracious
Duncan and, snap! Duncan was dead! And the brave Banquo was out too
late. You can, if you like, say that Fleance killed him. Because Fleance fled,
didn’t he?’ Lennox shook his head. ‘The moral is, it’s foolish to be out so late.
And who can help thinking how monstrous it was for Malcolm and Donalbain

to kill their gracious father? How it grieved Macbeth! Didn’t he immediately
kill the two criminals, who were in the grip of drink and sleep? In pious rage?
Wasn’t that a good thing? Yes and very wise, too, because it would only
have infuriated anyone who had heard them deny it! So, I think, all in all, that
he’s behaved most admirably. And I also think that if he had Duncan’s sons
under lock and key – which please God he won’t! – they’d soon find out
what it means to kill a father. And so would Fleance!’

Lennox’s friend put a hand on his arm. The two men sat in silence for a few
moments then Lennox spoke again:

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