Chapter: SCENE II.

A Camp near Forres.

[Alarum within. Enter King Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox,
with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Soldier.]

DUNCAN.
What bloody man is that? He can report,
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.

MALCOLM.
This is the sergeant
Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought
'Gainst my captivity.--Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it.

SOLDIER.
Doubtful it stood;
As two spent swimmers that do cling together
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald,--
Worthy to be a rebel,--for to that
The multiplying villainies of nature
Do swarm upon him,--from the Western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore. But all's too weak;
For brave Macbeth,--well he deserves that name,--
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smok'd with bloody execution,
Like valor's minion,
Carv'd out his passag tTill he fac'd the slave;
And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

DUNCAN.
O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!

SOLDIER.
As whence the sun 'gins his reflection
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break;
So from that spring, whence comfort seem'd to come
Discomfort swells. Mark, King of Scotland, mark:
No sooner justice had, with valor arm'd,
Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels,
But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage,
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men,
Began a fresh assault.

DUNCAN.
Dismay'd not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?

SOLDIER.
Yes;
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks;
So they
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,
I cannot tell:--
But I am faint; my gashes cry for help.

DUNCAN.
So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;
They smack of honor both.--Go, get him surgeons.

[Exit Soldier, attended.]

Who comes here?

MALCOLM.
The worthy Thane of Ross.

LENNOX.
What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look
That seems to speak things strange.

[Enter Ross.]

ROSS.
God save the King!

DUNCAN.
Whence cam'st thou, worthy thane?

ROSS.
From Fife, great king;
Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky
And fan our people cold.
Norway himself, with terrible numbers,
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor
The Thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict;
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm,
Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude,
The victory fell on us.

DUNCAN.
Great happiness!

ROSS.
That now
Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition;
Nor would we deign him burial of his men
Till he disbursed, at Saint Colme's-inch,
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

DUNCAN.
No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive
Our bosom interest:--go pronounce his present death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.

ROSS.
I'll see it done.

DUNCAN.
What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.

[Exeunt.]

 King Duncan, his sons Malcolm and Donalbain and the nobleman Lennox meet with a bleeding captain who recounts the details of the aforementioned battle. Malcolm bids the captain, who valiantly fought in the battle, to tell the king the present state of affairs. He says that the rebel Macdonwald swarmed the battlefield with his men, who claimed nativity from far-off places like the Western Isles. Although fate seemed to be with Macdonwald, Macbeth boldly made his way to the "rebel," split him from the navel to the jaws and hung his head over the battlefield. King Duncan praises Macbeth's courage and encourages the captain to continue with his narration. He says that just when the turn of events seemed favorable for Scotland, the Norwegian lord began a fresh assault with more men and supplies. Macbeth and Banquo, undeterred from their mission, continued to fight with ardor. At this point, the captain reels from weakness and the king orders surgeons to attend to him. Ross and Angus, Scottish noblemen, hasten into the courtroom with a wild look in their eyes. Ross tells King Duncan that the traitorous Thane of Cawdor assisted the King of Norway in the battle. The title "thane" indicates a Scottish nobleman. He also tells the king, however, that after much bloody fight the victory fell to Scotland. Duncan prepares to make peace with Sweno, Norway's king and asks for ten thousand dollars from him in return for the proper burial of his men. In addition, King Duncan orders the immediate execution of the Thane of Cawdor and asks that Ross greet Macbeth with the news that he will be the new Thane of Cawdor. Duncan says, "What he hath lost, Macbeth hath won. Thus, the king has fulfilled part of the witches' prophecy-"when the battle's lost and won. Furthermore, the fact that Macbeth defies fate in fighting Macdonwald indicates his propensity to twist the present to alter a supposedly fixed future. It is this courage to play with fate that made Macbeth murder his countless victims based on the advice of the witches

