sn't seem likely that the Porter gets his tip. Macduff asks him if he was up late, and the Porter answers "'Faith sir, we were carousing till the second cock [3 a.m.]; and drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things" (2.3.24-26). Macduff plays along, and asks what the three things are. The Porter answers, "nose-painting, sleep, and urine" (2.3.28-29). Sleep and urine don't need explaining; "nose-painting" merely alludes to the fact that drinking a lot makes your face flush. This supposed joke falls flat, and the Porter adds, "Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes" (2.3.29). He explains that drinking increases the desire for sex as it takes away the ability to perform. Therefore, it can be said that "much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery" (2.3.31-32). This, like most drunk jokes, might be funny to other drunks, but Macduff is not impressed. He remarks that the Porter has had too much to drink, and asks if Macbeth is up. Enter Macbeth:Just as Macduff is asking for him, Macbeth appears in his nightshirt, as though he had been awakened by the knocking. Macduff asks "Is the king stirring, worthy thane?" (2.3.45). Macbeth says that he's not, and leads him to the door of the King's chamber. When Macduff goes in to see the King, Lennox comments on what a terrible night it's been. The wind has blown chimneys down and it howled so terribly that it sounded like "Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death" (2.3.56), and prophecies of some unknown terror. The owl, bird of darkness and death, was heard all night long, and some said that the very earth shook like a man with chills and fever. Macbeth doesn't make much of an answer. He's probably preparing himself for the moment when Macduff discovers the King's murder, and it comes soon enough. As Lennox starts to speak again, Macduff rushes in, crying "O horror, horror, horror!" (2.3.64). The next few moments are often hard for readers to "get." The important thin...
