MEPHIST. Within the bowels of these elements, Where we are tortur'd and remain for ever: Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd In one self- place; but where we are is hell, And where hell is, there must we ever be: And, to be short, when all the world dissolves, And every creature shall be purified, All places shall be hell that are not heaven.
FAUSTUS. I think hell's a fable.
MEPHIST. Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind. FAUSTUS. Why, dost thou think that Faustus shall be damn'd?
MEPHIST. Ay, of necessity, for here's the scroll In which thou hast given thy soul to Lucifer.
FAUSTUS. Ay, and body too; and what of that? Think'st thou that Faustus is so fond to imagine That, after this life, there is any pain? No, these are trifles and mere old wives' tales.
MEPHIST. But I am an instance to prove the contrary, For I tell thee I am damn'd and now in hell.
FAUSTUS. Nay, an this be hell, I'll willingly be damn'd: What! sleeping, eating, walking, and disputing! But, leaving this, let me have a wife, The fairest maid in Germany; For I am wanton and lascivious, And cannot live without a wife.
MEPHIST. Well, Faustus, thou shalt have a wife. [MEPHISTOPHILIS fetches in a WOMAN-DEVIL.]
FAUSTUS. What sight is this?
MEPHIST. Now, Faustus, wilt thou have a wife? FAUSTUS. Here's a hot whore, indeed:no, I'll no wife.
MEPHIST. Marriage is but a ceremonial toy, And, if thou lov'st me, think no more of it. I'll cull thee out the fairest courtezans, And bring them every morning to thy bed: She whom thine eye shall like, thy heart shall have, Were she as chaste as was Penelope, As wise as Saba, or as beautiful As was bright Lucifer before his fall. Here, take this book, peruse it well: The iterating of these lines brings gold; The framing of this circle on the ground Brings thunder, whirlwinds, storm, and lightning; Pronounce this thrice devoutly to thyself, And men in harness shall appear to thee, Ready to execute what thou command'st.
FAUSTUS. Thanks, Mephistophilis, for this sweet book: This will I keep as chary as my life. [Exeunt.]
Enter FAUSTUS, in his study, and MEPHISTOPHILIS.
FAUSTUS. When I behold the heavens, then I repent, And curse thee, wicked Mephistophilis, Because thou hast depriv'd me of those joys.
MEPHIST. 'Twas thine own seeking, Faustus; thank thyself. But, think'st thou heaven is such a glorious thing? I tell thee, Faustus, it is not half so fair As thou, or any man that breathes on earth.
FAUSTUS. How prov'st thou that?
MEPHIST. 'Twas made for man; then he's more excellent.
FAUSTUS. If heaven was made for man, 'twas made for me: I will renounce this magic and repent.
Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL.
GOOD ANGEL. Faustus, repent; yet God will pity thee. EVIL ANGEL. Thou art a spirit; God cannot pity thee.
FAUSTUS. Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a spirit? Be I a devil, yet God may pity me; Yea, God will pity me, if I repent.
EVIL ANGEL. Ay, but Faustus never shall repent. [Exeunt ANGELS.]
FAUSTUS. My heart is harden'd, I cannot repent; Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven: Swords, poisons, halters, and envenom'd steel Are laid before me to despatch myself; And long ere this I should have done the deed, Had not sweet pleasure conquer'd deep despair. Have not I made blind Homer sing to me Of Alexander's love and Oenon's death? And hath not he, that built the walls of Thebes With ravishing sound of his melodious harp, Made music with my Mephistophilis? Why should I die, then, or basely despair? I am resolv'd; Faustus shall not repent.-- Come, Mephistophilis, let us dispute again, And reason of divine astrology. Speak, are there many spheres above the moon? Are all celestial bodies but one globe, As is the substance of this centric earth?
MEPHIST. As are the elements, such are the heavens, Even from the moon unto th' empyreal orb, Mutually folded in each other's spheres, And jointly move upon one axletree, Whose termine is term'd the world's wide pole; Nor are the names of Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter Feign'd, but are erring stars.
FAUSTUS. But have they all one motion, both situ et tempore?
MEPHIST. All move from east to west in four-and-twenty hours upon the poles of the world; but differ in their motions upon the poles of the zodiac.
FAUSTUS.TheseslenderquestionsWagnercandecide:HathMephistophilis no greater skill? Who knows not the double motion of the planets? That the first is finish'd in a natural day; The second thus; Saturn in thirty years; Jupiter in twelve; Mars in four; the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in a year; the Moon in twenty-eight days. These are freshmen's questions. But tell me, hath every sphere a dominion or intelligentia?
MEPHIST. Ay.
FAUSTUS. How many heavens or spheres are there?
MEPHIST. Nine; the seven planets, the firmament, and the empyreal heaven.
FAUSTUS. But is there not coelum igneum et crystallinum? MEPHIST. No, Faustus, they be but fables.
FAUSTUS. Resolve me, then, in this one question; why are not conjunctions, oppositions, aspects, eclipses, all at one time, but in some years we have more, in some less?
MEPHIST. Per inoequalem motum respectu totius.
FAUSTUS. Well, I am answered.Now tell me who made the world? MEPHIST. I will not.
FAUSTUS. Sweet Mephistophilis, tell me. MEPHIST. Move me not, Faustus.
FAUSTUS. Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me any thing?
MEPHIST. Ay, that is not against our kingdom; this is. Thou art damned; think thou of hell.
FAUSTUS. Think, Faustus, upon God that made the world. MEPHIST. Remember this. [Exit.]
FAUSTUS. Ay, go, accursed spirit, to ugly hell! 'Tis thou hast damn'd distressed Faustus' soul. Is't not too late?
Re-enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL. EVIL ANGEL. Too late.
GOOD ANGEL. Never too late, if Faustus will repent. EVIL ANGEL. If thou repent, devils will tear thee in pieces.
GOOD ANGEL. Repent, and they shall never raze thy skin. [Exeunt ANGELS.]
FAUSTUS. O Christ, my Saviour, my Saviour Help to save distressed Faustus' soul!
