The Sound and the Fury

Macduff's and Malcolm's army, made up of English and Scottish soldiers, is about to attack Macbeth's army, which is defending the castle of Dunsinane.

[Enter with drum and colours, macbeth, seyton and soldiers.]

macbeth: Hang out our banners¹ on the outward walls;

The cry is still, "They come!" Our castle's strength

Will laugh a siege to scorn²; here let them lie,

Till famine and the ague³ eat them up⁴.

Were they not forced⁵ with those that should be ours⁶, 5

We might have met them dareful, beard to beard⁷,

And bear them backward home⁸.

[A cry within, of women]

What is that noise?

seyton: It is the cry of women, my good lord.

[Exit]

macbeth: I have almost forgot the taste of fears. 10

The time has been, my senses would have cooled

To hear a night-shriek⁹; and my fell of hair

Would, at a dismal treatise, rouse and stir,

As life were in 't¹⁰.1 have supped full with horrors:

Direness¹¹, familiar to my slaughterous¹² thoughts, 15

Cannot once start me¹³.

[Re-enter seyton]

Wherefore¹⁴ was that cry?

seyton: The queen, my lord, is dead.

macbeth: She should have died hereafter¹⁵:

I There would have been a time for such a word¹⁶. 20

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day¹⁷,

To the last syllable of recorded time¹⁸;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death¹⁹. Out, out, brief²⁰ candle! 25

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player²¹

That struts and frets²² his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing. 30

GLOSSARY

1. banners: flags

2. Our castle's strength... scorn: they will never be able to capture our castle

3. ague: fever

4. eat them up: weaken them until they can no longer fight

5. forced: reinforced

6. those that should be ours: the Scottish soldiers fighting against Macbeth

7. We might... beard: we might have fought them in the open, man-to-man

8. And... home: and forced them back to where they came from

9. The time... night-shriek: in the past I would have been afraid if I heard a cry in the night

10. fell of hair... As life were in 't: when I heard a frightening story (dismal treatise) my hair (fell of hair) would stand up (rouse and stir) as if it were alive

11. Direness: horror

12. slaughterous: murderous

13. Cannot once start me: cannot frighten me now

14. Wherefore: what was the reason for?

15. hereafter: later

16. a time for such a word: a better time to hear this news

17. Creeps... day: one day follows the same insignificant way; creep: move in a slow, quiet, careful way

18. To … time: until the end of the world

19.And all... dusty death: every day we have lived (all our yesterdays), somebody has been shown the way (lighted) to death

20. brief: short

21. player: actor

22. struts and frets: tries unsuccessfully to show dignity and passion

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14