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THIRD WITCH Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravined salt-sea shark,
25Root of hemlock digged i' th' dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat and slips of yew
Slivered in the moon’s eclipse,
Nose of Turk and Tartar’s lips,
30Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-delivered by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab.
Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.
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THIRD WITCH Here come some more ingredients: the scale of a dragon, a
wolf’s tooth, a witch’s mummified flesh, the
gullet and stomach of a ravenous shark, a root of hemlock that was
dug up in the dark, a Jew’s liver, a goat’s bile,
some twigs of yew that were broken off during a lunar eclipse, a
Turk’s nose, a Tartar’s lips, the finger of a baby
that was strangled as a prostitute gave birth to it in a ditch.
(to the ingredients) Make this
potion thick and gluey. (to the other
WITCHES) Now let’s add a
tiger’s entrails to the mix.
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ALL
35Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
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ALL Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
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SECOND WITCH Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
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SECOND WITCH We’ll cool the mixture with baboon blood. After that the
charm is finished.
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Enter HECATE and the other three
WITCHES
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HECATE enters with three other
WITCHES.
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HECATE Oh well done! I commend your pains,
40And 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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HECATE Well done! I admire your efforts, and all of you will share the
rewards. Now come sing around the cauldron like a ring of elves and
fairies, enchanting everything you put in.
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Music and a song: “Black
spirits,” &c. HECATE retires
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Music plays and the six WITCHES sing a
song called “Black Spirits.”
HECATE leaves.
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SECOND WITCH By the pricking of my thumbs,
45Something wicked this way comes.
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks.
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SECOND WITCH I can tell that something wicked is coming by the tingling in my
thumbs. Doors, open up for whoever is knocking!
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