Macbeth and Banquo now encounter the weird sisters on the heath. Macbeth’s exclamations relate chiefly to the _ambiguity_ of their _appearance_. He says, they “look not like the inhabitants of the earth, and yet are on it.” They “_seem_ to understand me.” They should be women, And yet their beards forbid me to interpret That they are so. The witches then salute Macbeth in terms which are to him _incomprehensible_. They call him Thane of Cawdor, which he is, but does not know it. They also salute Banquo in ambiguous language: “Lesser than Macbeth and greater.” “Not so happy, yet much happier,” etc., etc. The witches now “melt into the wind;” upon which Banquo says, The earth hath _bubbles_ as the water has, And these are of them. Ross and Angus now enter and salute Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor, who, finding the prediction of the witches verified in this particular, asks Banquo whether he does not hope his children shall be kings. Banquo’s answer points to the _ambiguity_ of appearances, 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 To find the mind’s construction in the face; He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust. This reflection is commonplace enough in itself, but is rendered eminently striking by his cordial reception of Macbeth the next moment; he hails as his deliverer, and enthrones in his heart, the man who is already meditating his destruction, and that very night murders him in his sleep. Thus precept and example concur in teaching the _uncertainty of appearances_. Again Duncan says: My _plenteous joys_, Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves In _drops of sorrow_. He then declares his intention to confer _appropriate_ honors on all deservers, and renews his expressions of confidence in Macbeth.