TEXT:
MACDUFF
Was it so late, friend, ere you went to bed,
That you do lie so late?
Porter
'Faith sir, we were carousing till the second cock:
and drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things.
MACDUFF
What three things does drink especially provoke?
Porter
Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and urine.
Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes;
it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance:
therefore, much drink may be said to be
an equivocator with lechery:
it makes him, and it mars him;
it sets him on, and it takes him off;
it persuades him, and disheartens him;
makes him stand to, and not stand to;
in conclusion, equivocates him in a sleep,
and, giving him the lie, leaves him.
MACDUFF
I believe drink gave thee the lie last night.
Porter
That it did, sir, i' the very throat on me:
but I requited him for his lie; and, I think,
being too strong for him,
though he took up my legs sometime,
yet I made a shift to cast him.
MACDUFF
Is thy master stirring?
Enter MACBETH
Our knocking has awaked him; here he comes.
LENNOX
Good morrow, noble sir.
MACBETH
Good morrow, both.
MACDUFF
Is the king stirring, worthy thane?
MACBETH
Not yet.
MACDUFF
He did command me to call timely on him:
I have almost slipped the hour.
MACBETH
I'll bring you to him.
MACDUFF
I know this is a joyful trouble to you;
But yet 'tis one.
MACBETH
The labour we delight in physics pain.
This is the door.
MACDUFF
I'll make so bold to call,
For 'tis my limited service.
Exit
NOTES:
John Davies of Hereford
John Davies of Hereford (1565—1618) was a writer and poet. The work mentioned in this episode, Microcosmos, was a work filled with details and maxims about everyday, little things. The academic Brian Vickers has discussed Davies at length, and in a 2007 book even made a case for him being the author of the poem A Lover’s Complaint, more usually ascribed to Shakespeare.
Nose-painting
Shakespeare here is echoing a contemporary belief that prolonged exposure to alcohol can lead to the condition of rhinophyma, which gives the nose a red, bumpy appearance. This condition is primarily caused by rosacea, and nowadays it has been proven that alcohol is not the only cause. So it is not immediately to be assumed that a sufferer with this condition is a drinker.