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Chapter 2 In Macbeth's Castle in Inverness, his wife Lady

Macbeth is reading a letter. It is from Macbeth. In the letter Macbeth tells his wife about

the three witches and their words about his future. He also writes about the king's message.

The letter ends saying, Now I am the general of the Scottish army. I can become the king soon,

but for now this is a secret. Don't tell anyone. Farewell now, my dear wife. Lady Macbeth is very

excited. She thinks to herself, My husband is a general and he will be the king of Scotland soon.

He wants to be powerful and he is very ambitious. He has many desires but he doesn't have enough

courage. He is afraid to do bad things. I must give him some courage because I want to be the

king's wife. At that moment a servant comes in. There is a messenger at the door. He says

the king is coming here this evening. The servant tells Lady Macbeth. What? Are you crazy? Isn't

Macbeth with the king now? He is on his way here. He wants you to get ready for the king's

visit. I can't believe this. The king is visiting us. She cries out. But soon he will be a dead man.

She says to herself with an evil smile on her face. And Scotland will have a new king. Nothing

can stop my evil plan. A few hours later Macbeth arrives home. My dear love he

says to Lady Macbeth, are you ready for King Duncan's visit? He will stay with us until

tomorrow morning. But for him there is no tomorrow. Lady Macbeth says. I have a secret plan. Tonight

everything will change for us and for Scotland. What do you mean? Your words frighten me says

Macbeth. His face becomes pale with fear. Don't be afraid my dear husband. Leave everything to me

and greet the king kindly. We must be very nice to him. He mustn't understand our plans. In the

evening King Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle together with his sons Malcolm and Donald

Bain. Banco comes with them too. This castle is in a very pleasant place. The air here smells so

sweet the king says to Banco. Yes the air is so nice and there are beautiful birds in the garden

says Banco. Then Lady Macbeth welcomes the king and his sons. Thank you for visiting us

my lord. She says to the king. It is a pleasure to see you in our home. We are delighted to

have you as our guest. Where is your dear husband, the general of my army, asks King Duncan and

then he adds, My dear Lady Macbeth, we are your guests tonight. Your highness Macbeth and

I are your servants. Our house is your house, says Lady Macbeth. Then Macbeth comes down the

stairs and greets the king very kindly. They all have dinner at a big table. They drink

wine and talk and laugh. Macbeth seems very nervous. Suddenly he leaves the dining room.

Lady Macbeth becomes worried about him. She goes out of the dining room and looks for

him. She finds him in his room upstairs. He is sitting on his bed covering his face with

his hands. I can't do it. I can't kill Duncan. He is a kind man and a good king, he says

to his wife. And he is very good to me. He is very proud of me. But don't you want to be

the king? Don't be a coward. Have some courage. Be a brave man. Of course I want to be the

king. I am not afraid. I am not a coward. But I am worried. Don't worry. I have a very

good plan. I will give Duncan servants a lot of wine tonight. They will get drunk and they

will sleep heavily. Then you can go into Duncan's room and kill him with the servants' daggers.

Do you understand? Yes, yes I do. And we must cover the servants' clothes and hands with

Duncan's blood. Yes, we will do so, says Lady Macbeth. Tonight when Duncan servants are asleep,

I will ring the bell in the hall. It will be a sign for you. Then you can go into Duncan's

room. And tomorrow morning we will find Duncan's dead body in his bed. And everyone will think

Duncan servants are the murderers, Macbeth says. And Lady Macbeth adds, we will cry and

feel sad for Duncan's death together with the other people. Macbeth finally believes this

is a good plan. He decides to kill Duncan that night.

All right. I won't go to bed tonight. I will wait downstairs for your sign, he says.

Now sit with the guests, my dear wife. Speak to Duncan in a very friendly way. Do not look

nervous. Then Lady Macbeth goes back to the dining room. An hour later everyone leaves the

table and goes to their rooms to sleep. It is midnight now and the whole house is dark.

Everyone is asleep, but not Macbeth. He's waiting downstairs. Lady Macbeth is in her room,

but she is not sleeping. Suddenly Macbeth hears a noise. He quickly picks up his sword

and shouts, who is there? It's me, Banco. I am very tired, but I can't sleep.

I am still thinking about the three witches and their words. Oh, I am not thinking about

them anymore. I am very tired. I'm going to bed. We can talk about them in the morning

if you wish. I am going to bed too. Good night now, says Banco and goes to his room.

Macbeth is alone in the dark now. He waits for the bell to ring. He is very nervous.

He begins to imagine things. He sees a dagger in the air right in front of him. He sees

blood on the dagger. He holds out his hand to take it. Then he says to himself,

I am imagining things. There is no dagger here. Suddenly he hears the bell ringing.

It is time to kill Duncan. I must go and do it, he says to himself. He slowly climbs the

stairs to Duncan's room. At that moment, Lady Macbeth hears an owl's cry outside.

This means Macbeth is killing the king right now. His servants are so drunk, they are snoring

heavily. They cannot protect the king, she says to herself. Then she hears a noise outside.

Oh no, I hope the servants are still asleep and the murder happens. Suddenly Macbeth enters

the room. He has two daggers in his hands. They are covered with blood. It is done, he says.

But I am afraid. I hear voices. Do you hear them?

I don't hear anything. You are imagining them. Duncan's servants are snoring in their beds.

Malcolm, Donald Bain and Banco are sleeping in their rooms. And Duncan is dead.

Shh, listen to the voices. Macbeth says to his wife. They are saying horrible things about me.

Relax, Macbeth. Don't be a coward. Go and wash off the blood on your hands and take those two

daggers back to Duncan's room. Put them near his servants.

I can't go back to that room. I'm afraid. Coward, Lady Macbeth angrily says to her husband

and takes the daggers from him. She goes to Duncan's room and leaves the bloody daggers

next to the servants. They are still asleep. Then she puts some of Duncan's blood on the

servants' hands and faces. She quickly comes back to the bedroom. It is early in the morning

now. There is a loud knock at the main door. Macbeth is very scared now. He can't move or speak.

Who is knocking on the door at this time of the night? He asks Lady Macbeth.

I am frightened of every noise. What is happening to me? He thinks to himself.

Then he looks at his hands and begins to speak to himself.

Who's hands are these? Can all the water in the oceans wash this blood from my hands?

Then they hear two more knocks at the door. It is the main door. The porter will open it.

Do not worry, says Lady Macbeth calmly. Come Macbeth. Let's wash our hands and put on our nightgowns.

They must think we are in bed. The man at the door is Mac Duff, one of the king's noblemen.

He continues to knock on the door. Finally, a sleepy porter opens the door.

Is your master awake? Asks Mac Duff. At that moment Macbeth comes down the stairs and stands before the door.

Good morning, General. Is the king awake? Asks Mac Duff. Not yet, I think. It's too early.

Answers Macbeth in a calm voice.

I am here to wake him up. It is my job. Can I go to his room? Macbeth orders the servant to take Mac Duff upstairs to Duncan's room.

He stays downstairs in the hall. Mac Duff comes back in a few minutes. His face is pale.

Oh, it's horrible. I can't believe it. He cries out.

What's the matter? Asks Macbeth. The king is dead. It is a bloody murder. Mac Duff cries out again.

It can't be true. The king, murder. Go in his room and look. It is horrible. I can't describe it, says Mac Duff.

Then he begins to shout. Wake up. Wake up everyone. Ring the alarm bell. There is a murderer in this house.

At that moment Macbeth goes into the king's room and Mac Duff continues shouting.

Welcome. Donald Bain. Banco. Get out of your beds. Come here at once. Lady Macbeth comes out of her bedroom.

What is all that noise? What is happening here? She asks.

Oh, gentle lady. The news is terrible, says Mac Duff.

Banco and the king's sons arrive at that moment too. Mac Duff quickly gives everyone the bad news.

How horrible murder in our house! Lady Macbeth cries out.

Banco is shocked and his face becomes pale. Is it true? Who is the murderer? He asks.

His two servants, I suppose, answers Mac Duff. Their faces and hands are covered with blood. There is blood on their daggers too.

They are lying in their beds. They don't answer my questions. They seem shocked.

They just stare at me. Just then Macbeth comes out of Duncan's room. Don't worry. They can't hurt or kill anyone again.

Oh no! Banco shouts angrily. Are they dead? That is very bad because we will never learn the truth about the king's murder.

I am sorry for killing those servants, but you must understand the reason. They are the murderers of our dear king, says Macbeth in a sad voice.

Suddenly Lady Macbeth screams, help me quickly! And she faints. A maid and a servant run and carry her to her room.

The king sons are very sad. They are frightened and worried too.

We must not stay here. Malcolm whispers to Donald Bain. This house is too dangerous for us. The murderer will kill us too.

And Donald Bain says, perhaps he is one of our own relatives. And those two servants are the murderous men and must escape to Ireland.

I will escape to England. I will ask the king of England for help. Malcolm says, a few minutes later, Malcolm and Donald Bain get on their horses and ride away without saying good things.

Goodbye to anyone.