[00:00.40] Chapter 12.
[00:02.72] The sleepwalker and the tyrant.
[00:05.27] By now Macbeth had his spies everywhere, and it did not take long for news of the rebellion to reach him.
[00:11.54] The old Macbeth would have dithered, but the new one acted with single-minded purpose.
[00:17.93] Preparations for the defense of Dunsinane began immediately.
[00:23.93] Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, had become a disturbing figure.
[00:29.12] She had worn two faces so long, she had grown the rigid smile of a corpse.
[00:36.30] Lady Macbeth had crushed her human nature so utterly, her body never rested.
[00:42.91] Soon she would lose her senses completely.
[00:47.58] Doctors and attendants watched anxiously as she prowled through the night, fast asleep, eyes open.
[00:56.83] Must wash, she muttered.
[00:59.91] Must wash.
[01:02.99] It was the same every night.
[01:05.36] She would rub her hands together fiercely, sometimes for 20 minutes or more.
[01:13.28] There's still a spot, complained Lady Macbeth.
[01:18.39] She rubbed harder still.
[01:20.46] Out, damned spot, she cried.
[01:26.05] Now the rambling was beginning.
[01:28.40] Lady Macbeth would chatter in the most frightening way, fast and intense like a flow of blood.
[01:39.45] Who would have thought the old man had such blood in him, she railed.
[01:44.42] The thane of Fife, he had a wife.
[01:48.50] Where is she now, eh?
[01:50.91] Where is she now?
[01:53.91] Wash your hands, girl.
[01:57.64] Can you never get them clean?
[02:01.05] Come on now, get to bed.
[02:04.50] There's knocking at the gate.
[02:08.80] What's done is done.
[02:12.65] The doctors heard it all.
[02:16.46] Some said there were great truths in the ramblings of mad people.
[02:22.99] If so, it was better to keep quiet about what they had learnt.
[02:29.30] In any case, Macbeth did not want to know about it.
[02:34.25] He had banned bad news about his wife, just as he had banned bad news about the rebellion.
[02:44.00] So what if a few Scottish lords had turned traitor, thought Macbeth.
[02:50.44] So what if Malcolm was on his way?
[02:54.58] The weird sisters' visions assured him all would be well.
[03:00.92] Till Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane, he recalled.
[03:07.11] I am safe from harm.
[03:10.77] As for that pipsqueak Malcolm, was he not born from a woman?
[03:19.08] Then how can he kill me?
[03:23.42] Macbeth's scout was not so confident.
[03:27.59] Sir, he stammered, there are 10,000.
[03:34.93] 10,000!
[03:37.77] For heaven's sake! railed Macbeth.
[03:41.89] Take that pathetic look off your face.
[03:45.92] You look like a white-faced goose.
[03:49.99] 10,000 soldiers, sir, stuttered the scout.
[03:55.15] What was that?
[03:57.30] Snap Macbeth.
[03:59.53] 10,000 geese?
[04:02.42] No, sir, replied the terrified scout.
[04:07.47] The English force so please you, they're massing at Birnam Wood.
[04:13.56] Is that all? scoffed Macbeth.
[04:18.59] The rebel Scots ride to meet them, added the scout.
[04:24.90] Get your pale face out of here, barked Macbeth.
[04:29.98] Slap it till the color comes back.
[04:33.69] The scout backed out hurriedly.
[04:36.61] Macbeth called for Seton, the soldier who attended on him.
[04:42.41] Is this true about the English force? rasp Macbeth.
[04:49.23] Yes, sir, replied Seton.
[04:52.21] We have reliable reports on it.
[04:56.25] Macbeth gritted his teeth.
[04:59.72] I'll fight them with every ounce of strength in my body! he cried.
[05:07.01] Give me my armor!
[05:11.92] But, sir, protested Seton.
[05:15.08] You don't need it yet.
[05:17.24] I want it on! barked Macbeth, and send out more scouts.
[05:23.15] Hang any Scotsman who talks of fear.
[05:28.75] Where's that damned doctor?
[05:33.89] A doctor hurried into the chamber.
[05:37.86] Is my wife any better? demanded Macbeth.
[05:43.98] Not quite so sick, sir, replied the doctor, scared to tell Macbeth the full story.
[05:52.89] But she is still having these turns.
[05:57.70] You are a doctor, said Macbeth.
[06:02.60] Why can't you give us an antidote for these troubles?
[06:10.63] In some cases, replied the doctor, the patient can only cure themselves.
[06:18.31] Then throw your medicines to the dogs! rasp Macbeth.
[06:25.71] Unless of course, you can find a cure for this rebellion.
[06:31.82] Sennapods perhaps, or syrup of figs, anything that will purge this country of the English.
[06:43.11] You do know the English are coming?
[06:48.35] I guessed as much, sir, replied the doctor.
[06:55.80] I smiled to see the doctor's fearful face.
[07:00.26] Like most of the court, he had only come to Dunsinane to make his fortune.
[07:07.12] Now he wished he was somewhere else.
[07:12.34] Anywhere else.