Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Läseboken - 92. The Story of Macbeth
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Läsebok. N:o 94—95.
101
Now there lived, at this time, three old women in the
town of Forres, whom people looked upon as witches, and
supposed they could tell what was to come to pass. Nobody
would believe such folly now-a-days, except low and ignorant
creatures, such as those who consult gipsies in order to have
their fortunes told ; but in those early times the people were
much more ignorant, and even great men, like Macbeth,
believed that such persons as these witches of Forres could tell
what was to come to pass afterwards, and listened to the
nonsense they told them, as if the old women had really been
prophetesses. The old women saw that they were respected
and feared, so that they were tempted to impose upon people,
by pretending to tell what was to happen to them; and they
got presents for doing so.
So the three old women went and stood by the waysider
in a great moor or heath near Forres, and waited till
Macbeth came up. And then, stepping before him as he was
marching at the head of his soldiers, the first woman said,
»All hail, Macbeth — hail to th ee, Thane of Glamis!» —
The second said, »All hail, Macbeth — hail to thee, Than©
of Cawdor!» — Then the third, wishing to pay him a higher
compliment than the other two, said, »All hail, Macbeth, that
shalt be king of Scotland I» Macbeth was very much surprised
to hear them give him these titles; and while he was
wondering what they could mean, Banquo stepped forward, and asked
them whether they had nothing to tell about him as well as
about Macbeth. And they said that he should not be so
great as Macbeth, but that, though he himself should never
be a king, yet his children should succeed to the throne of
Scotland, and be kings for a great number of years. Before
Macbeth was recovered from his surprise, there came a
messenger to tell him that his father was dead, so that he was
become Thane of Glamis by inheritance. And there came a
second messenger, from the King, to thank Macbeth for the
great victory over the Danes, and tell him that the Thane of
Cawdor had rebelled against the King, and that the King had
taken his office from him, and had sent to make Macbeth
Thane of Cawdor as well as of Glamis. Thus the first two
old women seemed to be right in giving him those two titles.
I dare say they knew something about the death of Macbeth’s
father, and that the government of Cawdor was intended for
Macbeth, though he had not heard of it.
However, Macbeth, seeing a part of their words come to
be true, began to think how he was to bring the rest to pass,
and make himself King, as well as Thane of Glamis and
Cawdor. Now Macbeth had a wife, who was a very ambitious,
wicked woman, and when she found out that her husband
thought of raising himself up to be King of Scotland, she
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
