That trysted home,
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But ’tis strange;
And oftentimes to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths;
Win us with honest trifles to betray us
In deepest consequence.
Macbeth falls into meditation on the subject; thinks this “supernatural soliciting” cannot be ill, because it has already given him earnest of success; cannot be good, because it breeds horrid suggestions in his mind. The appearances are ambiguous and bewilder him. Banquo, observing his abstraction, remarks that new honors come upon him like “strange garments,” wanting the formality of use to make them sit easy.
The next Scene, (the 4th) though a short one, contains several very pointed references to the central idea. Malcolm reports to Duncan that Cawdor, when led to execution, had frankly confessed his treasons; whereupon Duncan says,
There’s no art