Friday, 8 March 2024

King of Salem




Ibn :
Another ship arrived 
during the night. 
There's A Boy standing 
out there on the bow like 
he's a statue. 

Melchisedec :
The Boy is letting 
them see him

Ibn :
He's in plain sight

Melchisedec :
They Do Not Know if 
What They See is real
Something to Do with The Mist
Apparently, They find 
dangerous things
spirits in The Mist. 
The Boy was being polite
giving Them time to 
decide if He's Real. 


Yeh Shoulda Been Loved

Jane Horrocks :
It's like he's been lyin' to me all this time.

Retrograde Witch :
Have you thrown him out?

Jane Horrocks :
He's on the couch.

Retrograde Witch :
Should be in a kennel if you ask me.

Jane Horrocks :
And Liz is moving halfway round the world for a new job.

Progressive Witch :
Where's she goin'?

Jane Horrocks :
Florida.

Progressive Witch :
Florida? I'd love to go there.

Jane Horrocks :
My family's falling apart.
I feel like it's my fault.

Harry Hecate :
Jean, I'm sorry, I couldn't help overhearing.

Jane Horrocks :
Harry, I'm just being stupid.

Harry Hecate :
Aye, you are being stupid if
you think any of this is your fault.
Come here. Come on. Come on.
It can happen in any family.
Come on. Come on.

Mary Queen of Scots,
born 1542, died 1587.
Her third husband
murdered her second husband,
her cousin tried her for treason
and her son stole her throne.

Progressive Witch :
It's true. If she was alive today,
she'd be on The Jeremy Kyle Show.

Harry Hecate :
So you listen to me, Jean Henshaw.
Whatever happened is not your fault.
You have done nothing but work yourself
into The Ground for Your Family.


You've been let downmessed around
Told to get your feet back on the ground
When you should have been loved, loved, loved
Should have been loved

You've been ripped off, written off
Told an act of kindness made you soft
When you should have been loved, loved, loved
You should have been loved

But all your detractors underestimated you
Cause they don't know you like I do
You've slept roughstolen stuff
Been beaten by a guy to show he's tough
When you should have been loved, loved, loved
Should have been loved

And anything new you tried to do
Got treated like a jumper in a queue
When you should have been loved, loved, loved
Should have been loved

But when there was pity and
When there was wealth
You wasted neither on yourself

Should have been loved
Should have been loved
Should have been loved
Should have been loved
Should have been loved
Should have been loved
Should have been loved
Should have been loved

All your detractors underestimated you
Cause they don't know you like I do
Like I do
You've been let down, messed around
Told to get your feet back on the ground
When you should have been loved, loved, loved



ACT III

SCENE I. Forres. The palace.

Enter BANQUO
BANQUO
Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and, I fear,
Thou play'dst most foully for't: yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father
Of many kings. If there come truth from them--
As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine--
Why, by the verities on thee made good,
May they not be my oracles as well,
And set me up in hope? But hush! no more.
Sennet sounded. Enter MACBETH, as king, LADY MACBETH, as queen, LENNOX, ROSS, Lords, Ladies, and Attendants

MACBETH
Here's our chief guest.
LADY MACBETH
If he had been forgotten,
It had been as a gap in our great feast,
And all-thing unbecoming.
MACBETH
To-night we hold a solemn supper sir,
And I'll request your presence.
BANQUO
Let your highness
Command upon me; to the which my duties
Are with a most indissoluble tie
For ever knit.
MACBETH
Ride you this afternoon?
BANQUO
Ay, my good lord.
MACBETH
We should have else desired your good advice,
Which still hath been both grave and prosperous,
In this day's council; but we'll take to-morrow.
Is't far you ride?
BANQUO
As far, my lord, as will fill up the time
'Twixt this and supper: go not my horse the better,
I must become a borrower of the night
For a dark hour or twain.
MACBETH
Fail not our feast.
BANQUO
My lord, I will not.
MACBETH
We hear, our bloody cousins are bestow'd
In England and in Ireland, not confessing
Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers
With strange invention: but of that to-morrow,
When therewithal we shall have cause of state
Craving us jointly. Hie you to horse: adieu,
Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you?
BANQUO
Ay, my good lord: our time does call upon 's.
MACBETH
I wish your horses swift and sure of foot;
And so I do commend you to their backs. Farewell.
Exit BANQUO

Let every man be master of his time
Till seven at night: to make society
The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself
Till supper-time alone: while then, God be with you!
Exeunt all but MACBETH, and an attendant

Sirrah, a word with you: attend those men
Our pleasure?
ATTENDANT
They are, my lord, without the palace gate.
MACBETH
Bring them before us.
Exit Attendant

To be thus is nothing;
But to be safely thus.--Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be fear'd: 'tis much he dares;
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear: and, under him,
My Genius is rebuked; as, it is said,
Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters
When first they put the name of king upon me,
And bade them speak to him: then prophet-like
They hail'd him father to a line of kings:
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding. If 't be so,
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd;
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!
Rather than so, come fate into the list.
And champion me to the utterance! Who's there!
Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers

Now go to the door, and stay there till we call.
Exit Attendant

Was it not yesterday we spoke together?
First Murderer
It was, so please your highness.
MACBETH
Well then, now
Have you consider'd of my speeches? Know
That it was he in the times past which held you
So under fortune, which you thought had been
Our innocent self: this I made good to you
In our last conference, pass'd in probation with you,
How you were borne in hand, how cross'd,
the instruments,
Who wrought with them, and all things else that might
To half a soul and to a notion crazed
Say 'Thus did Banquo.'
First Murderer
You made it known to us.
MACBETH
I did so, and went further, which is now
Our point of second meeting. Do you find
Your patience so predominant in your nature
That you can let this go? Are you so gospell'd
To pray for this good man and for his issue,
Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave
And beggar'd yours for ever?
First Murderer
We are men, my liege.
MACBETH
Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men;
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs and demi-wolves, are clept
All by the name of dogs: the valued file
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The housekeeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature
Hath in him closed; whereby he does receive
Particular addition. from the bill
That writes them all alike: and so of men.
Now, if you have a station in the file,
Not i' the worst rank of manhood, say 't;
And I will put that business in your bosoms,
Whose execution takes your enemy off,
Grapples you to the heart and love of us,
Who wear our health but sickly in his life,
Which in his death were perfect.
Second Murderer
I am one, my liege,
Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world
Have so incensed that I am reckless what
I do to spite the world.
First Murderer
And I another
So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune,
That I would set my lie on any chance,
To mend it, or be rid on't.
MACBETH
Both of you
Know Banquo was your enemy.
Both Murderers
True, my lord.
MACBETH
So is he mine; and in such bloody distance,
That every minute of his being thrusts
Against my near'st of life: and though I could
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Who I myself struck down; and thence it is,
That I to your assistance do make love,
Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons.
Second Murderer
We shall, my lord,
Perform what you command us.
First Murderer
Though our lives--
MACBETH
Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour at most
I will advise you where to plant yourselves;
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time,
The moment on't; for't must be done to-night,
And something from the palace; always thought
That I require a clearness: and with him--
To leave no rubs nor botches in the work--
Fleance his son, that keeps him company,
Whose absence is no less material to me
Than is his father's, must embrace the fate
Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart:
I'll come to you anon.
Both Murderers
We are resolved, my lord.
MACBETH
I'll call upon you straight: abide within.
Exeunt Murderers

It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul's flight,
If it find heaven, must find it out to-night.
Exit

SCENE II. The palace.

Enter LADY MACBETH and a Servant
LADY MACBETH
Is Banquo gone from court?
Servant
Ay, madam, but returns again to-night.
LADY MACBETH
Say to the king, I would attend his leisure
For a few words.
Servant
Madam, I will.
Exit

LADY MACBETH
Nought's had, all's spent,
Where our desire is got without content:
'Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.
Enter MACBETH

How now, my lord! why do you keep alone,
Of sorriest fancies your companions making,
Using those thoughts which should indeed have died
With them they think on? Things without all remedy
Should be without regard: what's done is done.
MACBETH
We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it:
She'll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth.
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the
worlds suffer,
Ere we will eat our meal in fear and sleep
In the affliction of these terrible dreams
That shake us nightly: better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave;
After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;
Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing,
Can touch him further.
LADY MACBETH
Come on;
Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks;
Be bright and jovial among your guests to-night.
MACBETH
So shall I, love; and so, I pray, be you:
Let your remembrance apply to Banquo;
Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue:
Unsafe the while, that we
Must lave our honours in these flattering streams,
And make our faces vizards to our hearts,
Disguising what they are.
LADY MACBETH
You must leave this.
MACBETH
O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!
Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives.
LADY MACBETH
But in them nature's copy's not eterne.
MACBETH
There's comfort yet; they are assailable;
Then be thou jocund: ere the bat hath flown
His cloister'd flight, ere to black Hecate's summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.
LADY MACBETH
What's to be done?
MACBETH
Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day;
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale! Light thickens; and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood:
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
While night's black agents to their preys do rouse.
Thou marvell'st at my words: but hold thee still;
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
So, prithee, go with me.
Exeunt

SCENE III. A park near the palace.

Enter three Murderers
First Murderer
But who did bid thee join with us?
Third Murderer
Macbeth.
Second Murderer
He needs not our mistrust, since he delivers
Our offices and what we have to do
To the direction just.
First Murderer
Then stand with us.
The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day:
Now spurs the lated traveller apace
To gain the timely inn; and near approaches
The subject of our watch.
Third Murderer
Hark! I hear horses.
BANQUO
[Within] Give us a light there, ho!
Second Murderer
Then 'tis he: the rest
That are within the note of expectation
Already are i' the court.
First Murderer
His horses go about.
Third Murderer
Almost a mile: but he does usually,
So all men do, from hence to the palace gate
Make it their walk.
Second Murderer
A light, a light!
Enter BANQUO, and FLEANCE with a torch

Third Murderer
'Tis he.
First Murderer
Stand to't.
BANQUO
It will be rain to-night.
First Murderer
Let it come down.
They set upon BANQUO

BANQUO
O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!
Thou mayst revenge. O slave!
Dies. FLEANCE escapes

Third Murderer
Who did strike out the light?
First Murderer
Wast not the way?
Third Murderer
There's but one down; the son is fled.
Second Murderer
We have lost
Best half of our affair.
First Murderer
Well, let's away, and say how much is done.
Exeunt

SCENE IV. The same. Hall in the palace.

A banquet prepared. Enter MACBETH, LADY MACBETH, ROSS, LENNOX, Lords, and Attendants
MACBETH
You know your own degrees; sit down: at first
And last the hearty welcome.
Lords
Thanks to your majesty.
MACBETH
Ourself will mingle with society,
And play the humble host.
Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time
We will require her welcome.
LADY MACBETH
Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends;
For my heart speaks they are welcome.
First Murderer appears at the door

MACBETH
See, they encounter thee with their hearts' thanks.
Both sides are even: here I'll sit i' the midst:
Be large in mirth; anon we'll drink a measure
The table round.
Approaching the door

There's blood on thy face.
First Murderer
'Tis Banquo's then.
MACBETH
'Tis better thee without than he within.
Is he dispatch'd?
First Murderer
My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for him.
MACBETH
Thou art the best o' the cut-throats: yet he's good
That did the like for Fleance: if thou didst it,
Thou art the nonpareil.
First Murderer
Most royal sir,
Fleance is 'scaped.
MACBETH
Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect,
Whole as the marble, founded as the rock,
As broad and general as the casing air:
But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo's safe?
First Murderer
Ay, my good lord: safe in a ditch he bides,
With twenty trenched gashes on his head;
The least a death to nature.
MACBETH
Thanks for that:
There the grown serpent lies; the worm that's fled
Hath nature that in time will venom breed,
No teeth for the present. Get thee gone: to-morrow
We'll hear, ourselves, again.
Exit Murderer

LADY MACBETH
My royal lord,
You do not give the cheer: the feast is sold
That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making,
'Tis given with welcome: to feed were best at home;
From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony;
Meeting were bare without it.
MACBETH
Sweet remembrancer!
Now, good digestion wait on appetite,
And health on both!
LENNOX
May't please your highness sit.
The GHOST OF BANQUO enters, and sits in MACBETH's place

MACBETH
Here had we now our country's honour roof'd,
Were the graced person of our Banquo present;
Who may I rather challenge for unkindness
Than pity for mischance!
ROSS
His absence, sir,
Lays blame upon his promise. Please't your highness
To grace us with your royal company.
MACBETH
The table's full.
LENNOX
Here is a place reserved, sir.
MACBETH
Where?
LENNOX
Here, my good lord. What is't that moves your highness?
MACBETH
Which of you have done this?
Lords
What, my good lord?
MACBETH
Thou canst not say I did it: never shake
Thy gory locks at me.
ROSS
Gentlemen, rise: his highness is not well.
LADY MACBETH
Sit, worthy friends: my lord is often thus,
And hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat;
The fit is momentary; upon a thought
He will again be well: if much you note him,
You shall offend him and extend his passion:
Feed, and regard him not. Are you a man?
MACBETH
Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that
Which might appal the devil.
LADY MACBETH
O proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear:
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said,
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts,
Impostors to true fear, would well become
A woman's story at a winter's fire,
Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all's done,
You look but on a stool.
MACBETH
Prithee, see there! behold! look! lo!
how say you?
Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.
If charnel-houses and our graves must send
Those that we bury back, our monuments
Shall be the maws of kites.
GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes

LADY MACBETH
What, quite unmann'd in folly?
MACBETH
If I stand here, I saw him.
LADY MACBETH
Fie, for shame!
MACBETH
Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time,
Ere human statute purged the gentle weal;
Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd
Too terrible for the ear: the times have been,
That, when the brains were out, the man would die,
And there an end; but now they rise again,
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns,
And push us from our stools: this is more strange
Than such a murder is.
LADY MACBETH
My worthy lord,
Your noble friends do lack you.
MACBETH
I do forget.
Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends,
I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing
To those that know me. Come, love and health to all;
Then I'll sit down. Give me some wine; fill full.
I drink to the general joy o' the whole table,
And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss;
Would he were here! to all, and him, we thirst,
And all to all.
Lords
Our duties, and the pledge.
Re-enter GHOST OF BANQUO

MACBETH
Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee!
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes
Which thou dost glare with!
LADY MACBETH
Think of this, good peers,
But as a thing of custom: 'tis no other;
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.
MACBETH
What man dare, I dare:
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger;
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves
Shall never tremble: or be alive again,
And dare me to the desert with thy sword;
If trembling I inhabit then, protest me
The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow!
Unreal mockery, hence!
GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes

Why, so: being gone,
I am a man again. Pray you, sit still.
LADY MACBETH
You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting,
With most admired disorder.
MACBETH
Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer's cloud,
Without our special wonder? You make me strange
Even to the disposition that I owe,
When now I think you can behold such sights,
And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks,
When mine is blanched with fear.
ROSS
What sights, my lord?
LADY MACBETH
I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse;
Question enrages him. At once, good night:
Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once.
LENNOX
Good night; and better health
Attend his majesty!
LADY MACBETH
A kind good night to all!
Exeunt all but MACBETH and LADY MACBETH

MACBETH
It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood:
Stones have been known to move and trees to speak;
Augurs and understood relations have
By magot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth
The secret'st man of blood. What is the night?
LADY MACBETH
Almost at odds with morning, which is which.
MACBETH
How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person
At our great bidding?
LADY MACBETH
Did you send to him, sir?
MACBETH
I hear it by the way; but I will send:
There's not a one of them but in his house
I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow,
And betimes I will, to the weird sisters:
More shall they speak; for now I am bent to know,
By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good,
All causes shall give way: I am in blood
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er:
Strange things I have in head, that will to hand;
Which must be acted ere they may be scann'd.
LADY MACBETH
You lack the season of all natures, sleep.
MACBETH
Come, we'll to sleep. My strange and self-abuse
Is the initiate fear that wants hard use:
We are yet but young in deed.
Exeunt

SCENE V. A Heath.

Thunder. Enter the three Witches meeting HECATE

First Witch
Why, how now, Hecate! you look angerly.

HECATE
Have I not reason, beldams as you are,
Saucy and overbold? How did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never call'd to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
And, which is worse, all you have done
Hath been but for a wayward son,
Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,
Loves for his own ends, not for you.
But make amends now: get you gone,
And at the pit of Acheron
Meet me i' the morning: thither he
Will come to know his destiny:
Your vessels and your spells provide,
Your charms and every thing beside.
I am for the air; this night I'll spend
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 distill'd 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
He hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear:
And you all know, security
Is mortals' chiefest enemy.
Music and a song within: 'Come away, come away,' & c

Hark! I am call'd; my little spirit, see,
Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.
Exit

First Witch
Come, let's make haste; she'll soon be back again.
Exeunt

SCENE VI. Forres. The palace.

Enter LENNOX and another Lord
LENNOX
My former speeches have but hit your thoughts,
Which can interpret further: only, I say,
Things have been strangely borne. The
gracious Duncan
Was pitied of Macbeth: marry, he was dead:
And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late;
Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd,
For Fleance fled: men must not walk too late.
Who cannot want the thought how monstrous
It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain
To kill their gracious father? damned fact!
How it did grieve Macbeth! did he not straight
In pious rage the two delinquents tear,
That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep?
Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too;
For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive
To hear the men deny't. So that, I say,
He has borne all things well: and I do think
That had he Duncan's sons under his key--
As, an't please heaven, he shall not--they
should find
What 'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance.
But, peace! for from broad words and 'cause he fail'd
His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear
Macduff lives in disgrace: sir, can you tell
Where he bestows himself?
Lord
The son of Duncan,
From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth
Lives in the English court, and is received
Of the most pious Edward with such grace
That the malevolence of fortune nothing
Takes from his high respect: thither Macduff
Is gone to pray the holy king, upon his aid
To wake Northumberland and warlike Siward:
That, by the help of these--with Him above
To ratify the work--we may again
Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights,
Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives,
Do faithful homage and receive free honours:
All which we pine for now: and this report
Hath so exasperate the king that he
Prepares for some attempt of war.
LENNOX
Sent he to Macduff?
Lord
He did: and with an absolute 'Sir, not I,'
The cloudy messenger turns me his back,
And hums, as who should say 'You'll rue the time
That clogs me with this answer.'
LENNOX
And that well might
Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance
His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel
Fly to the court of England and unfold
His message ere he come, that a swift blessing
May soon return to this our suffering country
Under a hand accursed!
Lord
I'll send my prayers with him.
Exeunt

ACT IV

SCENE I. A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron.

Thunder. Enter the three Witches
First Witch
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Second Witch
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Third Witch
Harpier cries 'Tis time, 'tis time.
First Witch
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.
ALL
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Second Witch
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Third Witch
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Silver'd in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.
ALL
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Second Witch
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
Enter HECATE to the other three Witches

HECATE
O well done! I commend your pains;
And every one shall share i' the gains;
And now about the cauldron sing,
Live elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.
Music and a song: 'Black spirits,' & c

HECATE retires

Second Witch
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks!
Enter MACBETH

MACBETH
How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!
What is't you do?
ALL
A deed without a name.
MACBETH
I conjure you, by that which you profess,
Howe'er you come to know it, answer me:
Though you untie the winds and let them fight
Against the churches; though the yesty waves
Confound and swallow navigation up;
Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down;
Though castles topple on their warders' heads;
Though palaces and pyramids do slope
Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of nature's germens tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken; answer me
To what I ask you.
First Witch
Speak.
Second Witch
Demand.
Third Witch
We'll answer.
First Witch
Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths,
Or from our masters?
MACBETH
Call 'em; let me see 'em.
First Witch
Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten
Her nine farrow; grease that's sweaten
From the murderer's gibbet throw
Into the flame.
ALL
Come, high or low;
Thyself and office deftly show!
Thunder. First Apparition: an armed Head

MACBETH
Tell me, thou unknown power,--
First Witch
He knows thy thought:
Hear his speech, but say thou nought.
First Apparition
Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff;
Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.
Descends

MACBETH
Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks;
Thou hast harp'd my fear aright: but one
word more,--
First Witch
He will not be commanded: here's another,
More potent than the first.
Thunder. Second Apparition: A bloody Child

Second Apparition
Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!
MACBETH
Had I three ears, I'ld hear thee.
Second Apparition
Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.
Descends

MACBETH
Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee?
But yet I'll make assurance double sure,
And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live;
That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies,
And sleep in spite of thunder.
Thunder. Third Apparition: a Child crowned, with a tree in his hand

What is this
That rises like the issue of a king,
And wears upon his baby-brow the round
And top of sovereignty?
ALL
Listen, but speak not to't.
Third Apparition
Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are:
Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.
Descends

MACBETH
That will never be
Who can impress the forest, bid the tree
Unfix his earth-bound root? Sweet bodements! good!
Rebellion's head, rise never till the wood
Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath
To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart
Throbs to know one thing: tell me, if your art
Can tell so much: shall Banquo's issue ever
Reign in this kingdom?
ALL
Seek to know no more.
MACBETH
I will be satisfied: deny me this,
And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know.
Why sinks that cauldron? and what noise is this?
Hautboys

First Witch
Show!
Second Witch
Show!
Third Witch
Show!
ALL
Show his eyes, and grieve his heart;
Come like shadows, so depart!
A show of Eight Kings, the last with a glass in his hand; GHOST OF BANQUO following

MACBETH
Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo: down!
Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls. And thy hair,
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first.
A third is like the former. Filthy hags!
Why do you show me this? A fourth! Start, eyes!
What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?
Another yet! A seventh! I'll see no more:
And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass
Which shows me many more; and some I see
That two-fold balls and treble scepters carry:
Horrible sight! Now, I see, 'tis true;
For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me,
And points at them for his.
Apparitions vanish

What, is this so?
First Witch
Ay, sir, all this is so: but why
Stands Macbeth thus amazedly?
Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprites,
And show the best of our delights:
I'll charm the air to give a sound,
While you perform your antic round:
That this great king may kindly say,
Our duties did his welcome pay.
Music. The witches dance and then vanish, with HECATE

MACBETH
Where are they? Gone? Let this pernicious hour
Stand aye accursed in the calendar!
Come in, without there!
Enter LENNOX

LENNOX
What's your grace's will?
MACBETH
Saw you the weird sisters?
LENNOX
No, my lord.
MACBETH
Came they not by you?
LENNOX
No, indeed, my lord.
MACBETH
Infected be the air whereon they ride;
And damn'd all those that trust them! I did hear
The galloping of horse: who was't came by?
LENNOX
'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word
Macduff is fled to England.
MACBETH
Fled to England!
LENNOX
Ay, my good lord.
MACBETH
Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits:
The flighty purpose never is o'ertook
Unless the deed go with it; from this moment
The very firstlings of my heart shall be
The firstlings of my hand. And even now,
To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done:
The castle of Macduff I will surprise;
Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword
His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool;
This deed I'll do before this purpose cool.
But no more sights!--Where are these gentlemen?
Come, bring me where they are.

Exeunta

In AD 922, Arab courtier 
Ahmad Ibn Fadlan accompanies 
A Party of Vikings to 
The barbaric North
Ibn Fadlan is appalled by 
the Vikings’ customs -- 
their wanton sexuality, 
their disregard 
for cleanliness, 
their cold-blooded 
Human Sacrifices

And then he learns the horrifying 
Truth : He has been enlisted 
to combat A Terror that 
slaughters The Vikings and 
devours Their Flesh……

Ibn Al Abbas, 
Ibn Rasid, 
Ibn Hammad

And things were 
not always thus. 

At one time, I was A Poet,
in The Greatest City 
in The World. 

Life was easy, 
And I lived without care ... 
until one fateful day ... 
I met a beautiful woman ... 
who belonged to another man. 

Her jealous husband 
complained to The Caliph ... 
who made me The Ambassador 
to the land of the Tossuk Vlad -- 
a country far to The North

I was banished from My Home ... 
and from all that I knew. 

So, I journeyed by camelback 
many months into the lands 
of barbarian peoples -- 
accompanied by Melchisidek
an old friend of my father -- 
through the lands of the Ogus, 
the Khazars and the Bulgars, 
into the lands of murderous 
bandits, called "Tartars," 
who attack caravans, 
slaughtering everyone. 

The Tartars are coming! 
The Tartars are coming! 
The Tartars -- 
Run! Run for Your Life! 

They have stopped. 
They are not following. 

A boat! A boat! 

They're Northmen! 
A boat! A boat!
Over there! Look! 
They are going! 

They are leaving! Move! 
Move! Keep moving! 

Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi. 

Wait, wait, wait! 
Those Men in The Boat
Who are They? 

Melchisedec :
The Northmen
Keep moving and Keep quiet

Ibn :
Why? Are They Dangerous?

Melchisedec :
 It depends
Maybe They'll let Us go, 
Or maybe They'll Kill Us. 

Ibn :
I am An Ambassador, damn it! 
I am supposed to Talk to People! 

Melchisedec :
You may yet have the opportunity.

Ibn :
What do you suppose the potentate of 
this encampment calls himself? 

Melchisedec :
Oh, Emperor, at the very least. 

Ibn :
Hmm. Emperor

Melchisedec :
We seek Your -- We seek 
Your Headman, Your King. 

Ibn :
Try Greek

(at The Table, he tries enunciating, slowly clearly, 
directly in Classical Greek to a baffled Hergar --  )

Melchisedec :
Heg-a-monia --

Hergar, The Joyous :
Eh?  (finallyMedieval Latin works -- )

Hergar, The Joyous :
Ah! Reck-Sooos, Tab-er-naclus 
(points out The Back)

Melchisedec :
He Says Their King is 
out there in that tent. 
He Says The King will 
not Speak to Us. 

Apparently, The King 
won't Speak to Us 
because He's Dead. 
This is His Funeral

(between mouthfuls of food and mead, Hergar
calls across to His Lord at The Head of The Table,
where-sits Beowulf, grim-faced and miserable,
seemingly deeply into an epic 3-Day Drunk,
and yells something to him in Old Norse --)

Melchisedec :
You are being introduced to 
one of the Heirs-apparent --
Buliwyf

Buliwyf :
Hergar! -- (something deeply passive-aggressive)


"Buliwyf wishes Song of Glory." 
Recite a Poem, a Tale
Surely you remember 
something

Ibn :
Uh -- In The Beginning, 
The Earth was void, and 
the spirits of God passed -- 

Ibn :
Now that there was a new King
The Northmen prepared for 
the funeral of their old King.

Melchisedec (translating 
for Hergar The Joyous: 
"We will burn him. 
In one moment, he 
and all he owns can 
be in paradise

These are our gifts to Our Lord 
to support His Kingdom 
in paradise

Ibn :
To take with him? 

Melchisedec (translating 
for Hergar The Joyous) : 
'Lo! There do I see My Father. 
'Lo! There do I see My Mother, 
My Sisters and My Brothers. 

'Lo! There do I see 
The Line of My People ... 
back to The Beginning. 

'Lo! They do call to me. 
They bid me take 
My Place among them 
in the halls of Valhalla, 
where The Brave may 
live forever

"She will Travel with him. 
You will not see this again. 
It is the old way." 

Ibn :
Another ship arrived 
during the night. 
There's A Boy standing 
out there on the bow like 
he's a statue. 

Melchisedec :
The Boy is letting 
them see him

Ibn :
He's in plain sight

Melchisedec :
They Do Not Know if 
What They See is real
Something to Do with The Mist
Apparently, They find 
dangerous things, 
spirits in The Mist. 
The Boy was being polite
giving Them time to 
decide if He's Real. 


Melchisedec :
He's A Messenger
He comes from Their Homeland 
in The North with A Message 
for Buliwyf

He i§s Wulfgar, 
Son of King Hrothgar
a Great King from The North. 
He comes to ask Buliwyf for help
His Father's Kingdom 
is under attack. 
Their Village is Destroyed
They are menaced  —
By an ancient evil, A Terror. 
A Terror that has no name. 
A Terror that must not be named. 

Ibn :
Look at Them
What thing would 
affect Them so? 


Hergar The Joyous :
emphatically
NO.

Melchisedec :
"The Name cannot Be Said.

King Buliwyf :
Speaks Commandingly 
in Norse

Melchisedec :
He calls for The Angel of Death. 
He calls for The Bones
She's An Oracle

The Oracle rolls 
and casts The Bones, 
renders Judgment and
makes Her Oracular 
Pronouncements —

Melchisedec :
She calls for Men, a number of them. 
Thirteen. The number of 
months in The Year
She Says, "13 Men must Go.

Men of The North 
start volunteering
 to join The Quest —
Quickly, they approach 
An Even Dozen.

Eight. Nine. Ten. 
Eleven. Twelve. 

Melchisedec :
She Says, "The 13th Man 
must be no Northman." 

Ibn : 
(absolutely appalled)
What The Hell are 
You Saying

Melchisedec :
The 13th Warrior is You

He Thinks Your 
Horse is too small
Something about, "Only an Arab 
Would bring A Dog to War.

He Wishes to Know 
Your Name.


Ibn :
I am Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan, 
Ibn Al Abbas, Ibn Rasid -- 

"Eban."

Ibn :
No, no. Listen
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan. 
"Ibn" means "Son of". 

Eban

Hyah! Hup! 

Ibn :
What is He Saying? 

Melchisedec :
"Hurry to meet Death before 
Your Place is Taken." 

Ibn :
I will Not Forget You. 
Go with God



You Listening? ... 
tomorrow. ... 
sneak up to steal ten 
or twelve horses. ... 
we can find some geese. 

So then He Says, 
"Do not foretell Me wife, for 
I will get to know so-proven 
aye comin home tonight."

 I don't sound like that

Roneth slept with her 
while we took the horses. 

Blowhards, both of you. 
She probably was some 
smoke-colored camp girl. 
Looked like that one's Mother. 

Ibn :
My Mother ... 
was A Pure Woman ... 
from a noble Family. 
And I, at least, know 
Who My Father is, you ... 
pig-eating son of a whore. 

No, no, no, no, no! Wait
Come on, come on, come on, 
come on. Come
Come on.

Where did You learn 
Our Language? 

I Listened

You can draw ... 
sounds? 

"Draw sounds"? 
Yes, I can Draw Sounds, 
and I can Speak them back. 

Show me. 

There is only one God ... 
and Muhammad is 
His Prophet.

Bring me those sacks.

Hey! Mind yourself. 

Be quiet. 

Only an "Arab" ... 

would bring -- 
A Dog to War? I heard this 
the first time. 

Good going, "Arab." 

Come on. The dog can jump. 

Here. - No, no. - Eat! 

Shouldn't we stay closer to land? 

No, boy! 
This is no day to be close to land! 


Odin! Odin! Odin! Down. - 

What did you -- 
What is that -- - 

Be silent. 

Odin! Land!

Arab, Speak What I Draw.

There is only one God ... 
and Muhammad is his ... 
Prophet.

Go. 

Here. You'll need this. 

I cannot lift this. 

Grow stronger!

Thursday, 7 March 2024

VHS-Summer School Lesson 1 : Cujo — Good Dog, Lie Down.


“I want My Daddy..!!”



Mr Gary Grooberson :
...are you okay...?

Callie :
Ah -- yeah. First Day.
Can you imagine who they've 
got teaching Summer School...?

Mr Gary Grooberson :
I can -- I teach it.

Callie :
Oh, I'm sorry.

Mr Gary Grooberson :
Look -- most of the kids around here -- 
they're not very bright.
[a little boy pushes past them.]
Hey, ColinHe's....
I can get them to do
whatever I want.

Callie :
[Unenthusiastically/Not-Listening/Doesn't Care.
Score.

Mr Gary Grooberson :
DREAM job...(!)






VHS-Summer School Survival Skills 
Lesson 1 : Good Dog, Lie Down… 
Just Lie Down, now…
Lie Down and Die.







Good Morning Class! 
How's Everybody Doing Today...?

My Name's 
Mister Grooberson.

....I know. 
You don't wanna be here. 
I don't wanna be here, either.
Now, apparently--

Your School is still operating on VHS --
But, I found this gem in The Teacher's Lounge :

It's called 'Cujo' : It's about a rabid St.Bernard that...
You know what, I don't want to give too much away, but --

Imagine 'Beethoven', 
if he contracted Rabies,
and then just started mauling children...!!
You get an idea -- Enjoy.








Here in My Car
I feel Safest of All
I can lock all My Doors
It's the only way to Live, in Cars —

Here in My Car
I can only receive
I can Listen to You
It keeps me stable for days, in Cars

Here in My Car,
Where The Image breaks down
Will You visit Me please
If I open My Door in cars —

Here in My Car
I know I've started to think
About leaving tonight
Although nothing seems right, in Cars

Wednesday, 6 March 2024

The Blood of Patriots and Tyrants




What signify a few lives 
lost in a century or two? 
The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed 
from time to time with the blood 
of patriots and tyrants
It is its natural manure.



Put it on Your Flowers



In a 1787 letter to William Stephens Smith, the son-in-law of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson used the phrase "tree of liberty" :

"I do not know whether it is to yourself or Mr. Adams I am to give my thanks for the copy of the new constitution. I beg leave through you to place them where due. It will be yet three weeks before I shall receive them from America. There are very good articles in it: and very bad. I do not know which preponderate. What we have lately read in the history of Holland, in the chapter on the Stadtholder, would have sufficed to set me against a Chief magistrate eligible for a long duration, if I had ever been disposed towards one: and what we have always read of the elections of Polish kings should have forever excluded the idea of one continuable for life. Wonderful is the effect of impudent and persevering lying. The British ministry have so long hired their gazetteers to repeat and model into every form lies about our being in anarchy, that the world has at length believed them, the English nation has believed them, the ministers themselves have come to believe them, and what is more wonderful, we have believed them ourselves. Yet where does this anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the single instance of Massachusets? And can history produce an instance of a rebellion so honourably conducted? I say nothing of its motives. They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid we should ever be 20. years without such a rebellion.[1] The people can not be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. We have had 13. states independant 11. years. There has been one rebellion. That comes to one rebellion in a century and a half for each state. What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure. Our Convention has been too much impressed by the insurrection of Massachusets: and in the spur of the moment they are setting up a kite to keep the hen yard in order. I hope in god this article will be rectified before the new constitution is accepted."