SCENE I.—A dark cave. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder. Enter the three witches.
1 Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. brinded ~ branded = streaked
2 Witch. Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whin'd.
3 Witch.
Harpier
cries :—'Tis time, 'tis time.
1 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,
swelter’td: exuded like sweat
Boil thou first i' th' charmed pot.
All.
Double,
double toil and trouble*):
*)
click for CARTOON
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.
2 Witch.
Fillet
of a fenny snake,
fillet
… snake: a slice of snake from the fens
In the
cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt*),and
toe of frog,
*)
click
for CARTOON
newt:
(German) Molch
Wool of bat, and
tongue of dog,
Adder's fork,
and blind-worm's sting,
fork:
doble-tongue
Lizard's
leg, and howlet's
wing,
howlet
(chiefly Scottish): owl, owlet
For a charm of
powerful trouble
Like a hell-broth
boil and bubble.
All. Double, double toil and trouble:
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.
3 Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw,
and gulf,
maw: (german)
Magen gulf:
sromach, voracious appetite
Of the ravin'd
salt-sea
shark;
ravin’d:
glutted with prey
Root of hemlock,
digg'd i' th' dark;
hemlock: (German)
Schierlingssaft, - kraut
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew,
yew: (German)
Eibe
Sliver'd
in the moon's eclipse;
sliver’d:
cut or sliced off
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch-deliver'd by
a drab,
drab [here]:
prostitute
Make the gruel
thick and slab:
gruel: (German) [(Hafer-/Schleim]Suppe
slab: [here] thick
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For th' ingredience of our cauldron.
All. Double, double toil and trouble :
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.
2 Witch. Cool it with a baboon's
blood:
baboon: (German)
Pavian
Then the charm is firm and good.
Enter
hecate,
and
the other three Witches.
Hec.
O,
well done ! I commend your pains,
And every one shall share i' th' gains.
And now about the cauldron sing,
Like elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.
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