after the event, discovered that this
kinsman appointed a relation of his own, named Banquo, to assist
him. Macbeth and Banquo defeated the Danes in a hard-fought battle,
and then set out for a town called Forres to rest and to make merry
over their victory.

A thane was the governor of a province. The father of Macbeth was
the thane of Glamis.

There lived at Forres three old women, whom the people believed to
be witches. When these old women heard that Macbeth was coming to
the place they went out to meet him, and awaited his coming on a
great heath. The first old woman saluted him on his approach with
these words: "All hail, Macbeth--hail to thee, thane of Glamis!"

And the second: "All hail, Macbeth--hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!"

And the third: "All hail, Macbeth--thou shalt be king of Scotland!"

Macbeth was very much astonished at these salutations; he expected
to become thane of Glamis some day, and he aspired to be king of
Scotland, but he had never anticipated such a disclosure of his
destiny as this. The old women told Banquo that he would become the
father of kings, and then they vanished, according to Shakspeare,
"into the air."

Macbeth and Banquo rode on very much elevated in spirits, when one
met them who informed them that the thane of Glamis was dead. The
melancholy event was not unwelcome to Macbeth; his spirits rose to a
still higher pitch; one thing that the old women had foretold had
speedily come to pass,--he was indeed thane of Glamis.

As Macbeth drew near the town, a glittering court party came out to
welcome the army. They hailed Macbeth as thane of Cawdor. He was
much surprised at this, and asked the meaning. They told him that
the thane of Cawdor had rebelled, and that the king had bestowed the
province upon him. Macbeth was immensely delighted at this
intelligence, feeling quite sure that the rest of the prophecy would
come to pass, and that he would one day wear the diadem.

Now the wife of Macbeth was a very wicked woman, and the prophecy of
the witches quite turned her head, so that she could think of
nothing but becoming queen. She was much concerned lest the nature
of her husband should prove "too full of the milk of human kindness"
to come to the "golden round." So she decided that should an
opportunity offer itself for an interview with the king, she would
somewhat assist in the fulfilment of the l