The
Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor
Faustus.
Written
by Ch[ristopher]
Mar[lowe]. London,
printed for John
Wright,
and are to be sold at his shop without Newgate, at the sign of the
Bible 1616.
Tragedy of Doctor Faustus
CHORUS.
Not
marching in the fields of Thrasimen,
Where
Mars did mate the warlike Carthagens,
Nor
sporting
in the dalliance of love
In
courts of kings where state
is over-turned
Nor
in the pomp of proud audacious deeds
Intends
our Muse
to vaunt his heavenly verse;
Only
this, Gentles: we must
now perform
The
form of Faustus’
fortunes, good or bad,
And
now to patient judgements we appeal,
And
speak
for Faustus
in his infancy.
Now
is he born, of parents base
of stock,
In
Germany, within a town called Rhodes:
At
riper years to Wittenberg
he
went,
Whereas
his kinsmen
chiefly brought him up;
So
much
he profits in divinity,
That
shortly
he was graced with Doctor’s name,
Excelling
all, and sweetly
can dispute
In
th’heavenly matters of theology,
Till
swoll’n
with cunning, of a self-conceit,
His
waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And
melting, heavens conspired
his over-throw.
For,
falling to a devilish
exercise,
And
glutted now with learning’s golden gifts,
He surfeits
upon cursed
necromancy:
Nothing
so
sweet
as magic is to him,
Which he prefers before his chiefest
bliss;
And
this the man that in his study
sits.
in
his study.
Settle
thy studies,
Faustus,
and begin
To sound
the depth of that thou wilt profess;
Having
commenced, be a divine in show,
Yet
level at the end of every art,
And live and die in Aristotle’s
works.
Sweet Analytics,
’tis thou hast
ravished
me:
Bene
disserere
est
finis logicis.
Is
to dispute
well logic’s chiefest
end?
Affords this art no greater miracle?
Then read no
more, thou hast
attained that end:
A greater subject
fitteth Faustus’
wit;
Bid Oeconomy
farewell – and Galen
come.
Be a physician
Faustus,
heap up gold,
And be eternized for some
wondrous cure.
Summum
bonum, medicinae sanitas,
The
end of physic
is our bodies’ health:
Why Faustus,
hast
thou not attained that end?
Are not thy bills hung up as
monuments
Whereby whole cities have escaped
the plague,
And thousand
desperate
maladies been cured?
Yet art thou still
but Faustus,
and a man.
Couldst
thou make men to live eternally,
Or, being dead, raise
them to life again,
Then this profession
were to be esteemed.
Physic
farewell: where is Justinian?
Si
una eademque res legatus duobus,
Alter rem, alter valorem rei,
etc.
A
pretty case
of paltry legacies,
Exhereditari
filium
non potest
pater,
nisi---
Such
is the subject
of the Institute,
And
universal
body of the law.
This study
fits a mercenary drudge
Who aims at nothing but external
trash,
Too
servile
and illiberal for me.
When all is done, divinity is
best:
Jerome’s
Bible, Faustus,
view it well.
Stipendium
peccati, mors est:
ha,
stipendium,
etc.
The
reward of sin
is death? That’s hard.
Si
peccasse,
negamus, fallimur, et
nulla est
in nobis veritas:
If
we say
that we have no sin
We
deceive ourselves,
and there is no truth in us.
Why then belike we must
sin,
And
so
consequently
die,
Ay, we must
die, an everlasting
death.
What doctrine call you this? Che
sera,
sera:
What
will be, shall
be; divinity adieu.
These
metaphysics
of magicians
And negromantic
books are heavenly,
Lines, circles, letters,
characters:
Ay these
are those
that Faustus
most
desires.
O
what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honor, and
omnipotence
Is promised
to the studious
artisan?
All things that move between the quiet Poles
Shall
be at my command. Emperors and kings,
Are but obeyed in their
several
provinces;
But his dominion that exceeds in this,
Stretcheth
as far as doth the mind of man:
A sound
magician is a demi-god,
Here tire my brains to get a deity.
WAGNER.
commend me to my dearest
friends,
The German Valdes and Cornelius;
Request
them earnestly
to visit
me.
I will sir.
Their
conference will be a greater help to me,
Than all my labours,
plod I ne’er so
fast.
the ANGEL
and
SPIRIT.
ANGEL
O Faustus, lay
that damned
book aside,
And
gaze not on it lest
it tempt thy soul,
And
heap God’s heavy wrath upon thy head.
Read, read the
Scriptures:
that
is
blasphemy.
ANGEL
Go forward, Faustus,
in that famous art
Wherein all nature’s treasure
is contained:
Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky,
Lord
and commander of these
elements.
ANGELS.
How
am I glutted with conceit of this!
Shall I make spirits
fetch me what I please?
Resolve
me of all ambiguities?
Perform what desperate
enterprise
I will?
I’ll have them fly to India for gold;
Ransack
the ocean for orient pearl,
And search
all corners of the new-found world
For pleasant
fruits, and princely delicates.
I’ll have them read me strange
philosophy,
And
tell the secrets
of all foreign kings:
I’ll have them wall all Germany with
brass,
And
make swift
Rhine circle fair Wittenberg:
I’ll have them fill the public
schools
with skill,
Wherewith
the students
shall
be bravely clad.
I’ll levy soldiers
with the coin they bring,
And chase
the Prince of Parma from our land,
And reign sole
king of all the Provinces.
Yea, stranger
engines for the brunt of war
Than was the fiery keel at Antwerp
bridge
I’ll
make my servile
spirits
to invent.
Come, German Valdes and Cornelius,
And make me
blest
with your sage
conference.
VALDES and
CORNELIUS.
sweet
Valdes and Cornelius,
Know that your words have won me at the
last,
To
practice
magic and concealed
arts.
Philosophy
is odious and obscure:
Both
law and physic
are for petty wits;
’Tis magic, magic, that hath ravished
me.
Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt,
And I,
that have with subtle
syllogisms
Graveled
the pastors
of the German Church,
And made the flow’ring pride of
Wittenberg
Sworn to my problems, as th’infernal spirits
On
sweet
Musaeus
when he came to hell,
Will be as cunning as Agrippa
was,
Whose
shadow
made all Europe honour him.
Faustus,
these
books, thy wit, and our experience,
Shall
make all nations to canonize us;
As Indian moors obey their
Spanish
lords,
So
shall
the spirits
of every element
Be always serviceable
to us three.
Like lions shall
they guard us when we please,
Like
Almaine rutters
with their horsemen’s
staves,
Or
Lapland giants trotting by our sides;
Sometimes
like women or unwedded maids,
Shadowing more beauty in their
airy brows,
Then has the white breasts
of the Queen of Love.
From Venice shall
they drag huge argosies,
And
from America the golden fleece,
That
yearly stuffed
old Phillip’s
treasury,
If
learned
Faustus
will be resolute.
Valdes,
as
resolute
am I in this
As thou to live, therefore object it not.
The
miracles that magic will perform
Will make thee vow to study
nothing else.
He
that is grounded in astrology,
Enriched
with tongues, well seen
in minerals,
Hath all the principles magic doth require:
Then
doubt not Faustus
but to be renowned,
And more frequented for this mystery
Than
heretofore the Delphian Oracle.
The
spirits
tell me they can dry the sea,
And
fetch the treasure
of all foreign wracks:
Yea, all the wealth that our fore-fathers
hid,
Within the massy
entrails of the earth;
Then tell me Faustus
what shall
we three want?
Nothing
Cornelius; O this cheers my soul:
Come,
show
me some
demonstrations
magical,
That I may conjure in some
bushy
grove,
And have these
joys in full possession.
Then
haste
thee to some
solitary
grove,
And bear wise
Bacon’s, and Albanus’ works,
The
Hebrew Psalter,
and New Testament;
And
whatsoever
else
is requisite,
We
will inform thee ere our conference cease.
Valdes,
first
let him know the words of art,
And then, all other ceremonies
learned,
Faustus
may try his cunning by himself.
First
I’ll instruct
thee in the rudiments,
And then wilt thou be perfecter than I.
Then
come and dine with me, and after meat
We’ll canvas
every quiddity thereof:
For ere I sleep,
I’ll try what I can do:
This night I’ll conjure though I die
therefore.
omnes.
two
SCHOLARS.
SCHOLAR
I wonder what’s become of Faustus
that was wont
To make our schools
ring with sic
probo.
WAGNER.
SCHOLAR
That
shall
we presently
know, here comes his boy.
SCHOLAR How now
sirrah,
where’s thy master?
God in heaven knows.
SCHOLAR Why, dost
not thou know then!
Yes,
I know, but that follows not.
SCHOLAR Go
to sirrah,
leave your jesting, and tell us where he is.
WAGNER
That
follows not by force of argument, which you, being licentiates,
should
stand
upon, therefore acknowledge your error, and be attentive.
SCHOLAR Then
you will not tell us?
WAGNER
You are deceived, for I will tell you: yet if you were not dunces,
you would never ask
me such
a question. For is he not Corpus
naturale?
And is not that Mobile?
Then wherefore should
you ask
me such
a question? But that I am by nature phlegmatic, slow
to wrath, and prone to lechery (to love I would say),
it were not for you to come within forty foot of the place of
execution, although I do not doubt but to
see
you both hanged the next sessions.
Thus having triumphed over you, I will set
my countenance like a precisian,
and begin to speak
thus: truly my dear brethren, my master
is
within at dinner, with Valdes and Cornelius, as this wine, if it
could speak,
would inform your worships;
and so
the Lord bless
you, preserve
you, and keep you, my dear brethren.
Exit.
SCHOLAR
O Faustus,
then
I fear that which I have long suspected:
That
thou art fall’n into that damned art
For which they two are
infamous through the world.
SCHOLAR
Were he a stranger,
not allied to me,
The danger of his soul
would make me mourn:
But
come, let us go, and inform the Rector;
It may be his grave
counsel
may reclaim him.
SCHOLAR
I fear me, nothing will reclaim him now.
SCHOLAR Yet let us see
what we can do.
Enter
LUCIFER and
four
devils,
FAUSTUS
to
them with this speech.
Now
that the gloomy shadow
of the night,
Longing to view Orion’s drizzling
look,
Leaps
from th’Antarctic world unto the sky,
And
dims the welkin, with her pitchy breath –
Faustus,
begin thine incantations,
And try if devils will obey thy
hest,
Seeing
thou hast
prayed and sacrificed
to them.
Within this circle is Jehovah’s name,
Forward,
and backward, anagrammatized;
Th’abbreviated
names of holy saints,
Figures of every adjunct to the
heavens,
And characters of signs
and evening stars,
By
which the spirits
are enforced
to rise:
Then
fear not, Faustus,
to be resolute
And
try the utmost
magic can perform.
Thunder.
Sint
mihi Dii
Acherontis propitii,
valeat numen triplex Iehovae,
ignei Aerii,
Aquatani
spiritus
salvete:
Orientis Princeps Belzebub,
inferni ardentis monarcha et
demigorgon, propitiamus vos, ut appareat, et
surgat
Mephostophilis
Dragon, quod tumeraris; per Iehovam,
gehennan, et
consecratam
aquam, quam nunc spargo;
signumque
crucis quod nunc facio; et
per vota nostra
ipse
nunc surgat
nobis dicatis Mephostophilis.
Enter
a
DEVIL.
charge thee to return, and change thy shape,
Thou
art too ugly to attend on me:
Go and return an old Franciscan
Friar,
That holy shape
becomes a devil best.
DEVIL.
see
there’s virtue in my heavenly words.
Who would not be
proficient in this art?
How pliant is this Mephostophilis!
Full
of obedience and humility,
Such is the force of magic, and my
spells.
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
Now,
Faustus,
what wouldst
thou have me do?
I
charge thee wait upon me whilst
I live
To do whatever Faustus
shall
command:
Be it to make the Moon drop from her sphere,
Or
the Ocean to overwhelm the world.
I
am a servant to great Lucifer,
And may not follow thee without
his leave;
No more than he commands, must
we perform.
Did
not he charge thee to appear to me?
No,
I came now hither of mine own accord.
Did
not my conjuring raise
thee? Speak.
That
was the cause,
but yet per
accident,
For
when we hear one rack the name of God,
Abjure the Scriptures,
and his saviour Christ,
We
fly in hope to get his glorious soul;
Nor
will we come unless
he use
such
means
Whereby he is in danger to be damned:
Therefore the
shortest
cut for conjuring
Is stoutly
to abjure all godliness,
And
pray devoutly to the Prince of Hell.
So
Faustus
hath already done, and holds this principle,
There is no chief
but only Beelzebub,
To
whom Faustus
doth dedicate himself.
This
word, damnation, terrifies not me,
For I confound hell in
Elysium:
My ghost
be with the old philosophers.
But
leaving these
vain trifles of men’s souls,
Tell
me, what is that Lucifer, thy lord?
Arch-regent
and Commander of all spirits.
Was
not that Lucifer an angel once?
Yes
Faustus,
and most
dearly loved of God.
How
comes it then that he is Prince of Devils?
O:
by aspiring
pride and insolence,
For
which God threw him from the face of heaven.
And
what are you that live with Lucifer?
Unhappy
spirits
that live with Lucifer,
Conspired
against
our God with Lucifer,
And are forever damned with Lucifer.
are you damned?
In hell.
How
comes it then that thou art out of hell?
Why,
this is hell; nor am I out of it.
Think’st
thou that I that saw
the face of God,
And tasted
the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand
hells
In being deprived of everlasting
bliss?
O
Faustus,
leave these
frivolous demands,
Which strikes
a terror to my fainting soul.
What,
is great Mephostophilis
so
passionate
For
being deprived
of
the joys of heaven?
Learn thou of Faustus
manly fortitude,
And scorn
those
joys thou never shalt
possess.
Go
bear these
tidings to great Lucifer,
Seeing Faustus
hath incurred eternal death
By desperate
thoughts against
Jove’s deity:
Say he surrenders
up to him his soul,
So
he will spare
him four and twenty years,
Letting him live in all
voluptuousness,
Having
thee ever to attend on me,
To give me whatsoever
I shall
ask;
To
tell me whatsoever
I demand;
To slay
mine enemies, and to aid my friends,
And always be obedient to
my will.
Go, and return to mighty Lucifer,
And meet me in
my study, at midnight,
And then resolve
me of thy Master’s
mind.
I
will, Faustus.
Had
I as many souls
as there be stars,
I’d give them all for Mephostophilis.
By
him, I’ll be great Emperor of the world,
And make a bridge
through the moving air,
To pass
the Ocean: with a band of men
I’ll join the hills that bind
the Affric shore,
And
make that country continent to Spain,
And both contributary to
my crown.
The Emperor shall
not live but by my leave,
Nor any potentate of Germany.
Now
that I have obtained what I desired
I’ll
live in speculation
of this art
Till Mephostophilis
return again.
WAGNER and
the
CLOWN.
Come hither
sirrah boy.
CLOWN
Boy? O disgrace
to my person: Zounds
boy in your face,
you have seen
many boys with beards I am sure.
Sirrah, hast
thou no comings in?
Yes, and goings out too, you may see
sir.
WAGNER
Alas poor slave,
see
how poverty jests in his nakedness,
I know the villain’s out of service,
and so
hungry, that I know he would give his soul
to the devil for a shoulder
of mutton, though it were blood raw.
CLOWN
Not so
neither; I had need to have it well roasted,
and good sauce
to it, if I pay so
dear, I can tell you.
WAGNER
Sirrah, wilt thou be my man and wait on me? And I will make thee go,
like Qui
mihi discipulus.
What, in verse?
No slave,
in beaten silk,
and staves-aker.
Staves-aker? That’s good to kill vermin: then belike if I serve
you, I shall be lousy.
WAGNER
Why so
thou shalt
be, whether thou dost
it or no: for
sirrah,
if thou dost
not presently bind thy self to me for seven
years, I’ll turn all the lice about thee into Familiars, and make
them tear thee in pieces.
CLOWN
Nay sir,
you may save
yourself
a labour, for they are
as familiar with me, as if they paid for their meat and drink, I can
tell you.
WAGNER
Well
sirrah, leave your jesting, and take these guilders.
CLOWN
Yes marry sir,
and I thank you too.
WAGNER
So,
now thou art to be at an hour’s warning, whensoever,
and wheresoever
the devil shall
fetch thee.
CLOWN
Here,
take your guilders, I’ll none of ’em.
WAGNER
Not
I, thou art pressed,
prepare thyself, for I will presently raise up two devils to carry
thee away: Banio, Belcher.
CLOWN
Belcher? And
Belcher come here, I’ll belch him: I am
not afraid of a devil.
Enter
two
DEVILS.
WAGNER
How now sir, will you serve me now?
CLOWN
Ay,
good Wagner, take away the devil then.
WAGNER
Spirits away; now
sirrah
follow me.
CLOWN
I
will sir;
but hark you Master, will you teach me this conjuring occupation?
WAGNER
Ay sirrah, I’ll teach thee to turn thyself to a dog, or a cat, or a
mouse, or a rat, or anything.
CLOWN
A
dog, or a cat, or a mouse,
or a rat? O brave Wagner.
WAGNER
Villain, call me Master Wagner, and see that you walk attentively,
and let your right eye be always, Diametrally
fixed upon my left heel, that thou mayst, Quasi
vestigias nostras insistere.
CLOWN
Well
sir,
I warrant you.
Exeunt.
[2.1]
Enter
FAUSTUS
in his study.
Now
Faustus,
must
thou needs be damned?
Canst
thou not be saved?
What
boots it then to think on God or Heaven?
Away with such
vain fancies, and despair,
Despair
in God, and trust
in Beelzebub,
Now
go not backward Faustus,
be resolute.
Why
waver’st
thou? O something
soundeth
in mine ear.
Abjure this magic, turn to God again.
Why, he
loves thee not. The God thou serv’st
is thine own appetite
Wherein is fixed the love of Beelzebub,
To
him, I’ll build an altar and a church,
And offer lukewarm
blood, of new-born babes.
the two
ANGELS.
ANGEL
Go forward, Faustus,
in that famous art.
ANGEL
Sweet Faustus,
leave that execrable art.
Contrition,
prayer, repentance? What of these?
ANGEL
O, they are means to bring thee unto heaven.
ANGEL
Rather illusions,
fruits of lunacy,
That makes them foolish
that do use
them most.
ANGEL
Sweet Faustus,
think of heaven, and heavenly things.
ANGEL
No, Faustus,
think of honour and of wealth.
ANGELS.
Wealth?
Why the Signory
of Embden
shall
be mine:
When Mephostophilis
shall
stand
by me,
What power can hurt me? Faustus
thou art safe.
Cast
no more doubts; Mephostophilis, come
And bring glad tidings from
great Lucifer.
Is't
not midnight? Come, Mephostophilis.
Veni
veni Mephostophile.
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
tell me what saith
Lucifer thy Lord.
That
I shall
wait on Faustus
whilst
he lives,
So he will buy my service
with his soul.
Already
Faustus
hath hazarded that for thee.
But
now thou must
bequeath it solemnly,
And
wright a Deed of Gift with thine own blood;
For that security
craves Lucifer.
If thou deny it I must
back to hell.
Stay
Mephostophilis,
and tell me,
What good will my soul
do thy Lord?
his kingdom.
Is
that the reason
why he tempts us thus?
Solamen
miseris,
socios
habuisse
doloris.
Why,
have you any pain that torture other?
As
great as have the human souls
of men.
But tell me Faustus,
shall
I have thy soul?
And
I will be thy slave
and wait on thee,
And give thee more than thou hast
wit to ask.
Ay,
Mephostophilis,
I’ll give it him.
Then,
Faustus,
stab
thy arm courageously,
And
bind thy soul,
that at some
certain day
Great Lucifer may claim it as his own,
And then
be thou as great as Lucifer.
Lo
Mephosto:
for love of thee Faustus
hath cut his arm,
And with his proper blood assures
his soul
to be great Lucifer’s,
Chief Lord and Regent of perpetual
night.
View here this blood that trickles from mine arm,
And
let it be propitious for my wish.
Faustus,
Write
it in manner of a Deed of Gift.
Ay,
so
I do; but Mephostophilis,
My
blood congeals, and I can write no more.
I’ll
fetch thee fire to dissolve
it straight.
What
might the staying
of my blood portend?
Is it unwilling I should
write this bill?
Why streams
it not, that I may write afresh?
Faustus
gives to thee his soul:
O, there it stayed.
Why
shouldst
thou not? Is not thy soul
thine own?
Then write again: Faustus
gives to thee his soul.
MEPHOSTOPHILIS with
the chafer
of fire.
Faustus,
here is fire, set
it on.
So,
now the blood begins to clear again:
Now will I make an end
immediately.
What
will not I do to obtain his soul?
Consummatum
est:
this
bill is ended,
And Faustus
hath bequeathed his soul
to Lucifer.
But what is this inscription
on mine arm?
Homo
fuge,
whither
should
I fly?
If unto heaven, he’ll throw me down to hell.
My
senses
are deceived, here’s nothing writ:
O yes, I see
it plain, even here is writ
Homo
fuge,
yet shall
not Faustus
fly.
I’ll
fetch him somewhat
to delight his mind.
DEVILS,
giving crowns
and rich apparel
to FAUSTUS:
they dance, and then depart.
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
What
means this show?
Speak,
Mephostophilis.
Nothing,
Faustus,
but to delight thy mind,
And let thee see
what
magic can perform.
But
may I raise
such
spirits
when I please?
Ay,
Faustus,
and do greater things than these.
Then,
Mephostophilis,
receive this scroll,
A
Deed of Gift, of body and of soul:
But
yet conditionally, that thou perform
All covenants, and
articles, between us both.
Faustus,
I swear
by Hell and Lucifer,
To effect all promises
between us both.
Then
hear me read it Mephostophilis.
On
these
conditions following.
reads.]
that Faustus
may be a spirit
in form and substance.
Secondly,
that Mephostophilis
shall
be his servant,
and be by him commanded.
Thirdly, that Mephostophilis
shall
do for him, and bring him whatsoever.
Fourthly,
that he shall
be in his chamber or house
invisible.
Lastly, that he shall
appear to the said
John Faustus,
at all times, in what shape
and form soever
he please.
I,
John Faustus
of Wittenberg, Doctor, by these
presents,
do give both body and soul
to Lucifer, Prince of the
East,
and his minister
Mephastophilis,
and furthermore grant unto them that four and twenty years being
expired, and these
articles above written being inviolate, full power to fetch or carry
the said
John Faustus,
body and soul,
flesh, blood, into their habitation wheresoever.
By
me, John Faustus.
MEPHOSTOPHILIS
Speak,
Faustus,
do you deliver this as your Deed?
FAUSTUS
Ay,
take it, and the devil give thee good of it.
So,
now
Faustus,
ask
me what thou wilt.
First,
I will question
thee about hell:
Tell me, where is the place that men call hell?
the heavens.
Ay,
so
are all things else; but
whereabouts?
Within
the bowels of these
elements,
Where we are tortured, and remain forever.
Hell
hath no limits, nor is circumscribed
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 is not heaven.
think hell’s a fable.
Ay,
think so
still,
till experience change thy mind.
Why,
dost
thou think that Faustus
shall
be damned?
Ay,
of necessity,
for here’s the scroll
In
which thou hast
given thy soul
to Lucifer.
Ay,
and body too, but 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.
But
I am an instance
to prove the contrary:
For I tell thee I am damned, and now in
hell.
Nay,
and
this
be hell, I’ll willingly be damned.
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.
Well,
Faustus,
thou shalt
have a wife.
fetches in a woman devil.
sight is this?
Now
Faustus,
wilt thou have a wife?
Here’s
a hot whore indeed; no, I’ll no wife.
Marriage
is but a ceremonial toy,
And if thou lovest
me think no more of it,
I’ll cull thee out the fairest
courtesans,
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, and 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 commandst.
Thanks,
Mephostophilis,
for this sweet
book.
This will I keep, as chary as my life.
WAGNER
solus.
Learned
Faustus,
To
know the secrets
of Astronomy
Graven
in the book of Jove’s high firmament,
Did mount himself
to scale Olympus’ top,
Being seated
in a chariot burning bright,
Drawn by the strength
of yoaky dragons’ necks,
He now is gone to prove
Cosmography,
And
as I guess
will first
arrive at Rome,
To see
the Pope and manner of his Court;
And take some
part of holy Peter’s feast,
That
to this day is highly solemnized.
WAGNER.
FAUSTUS
in
his study, and
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
When
I behold the heavens then I repent,
And curse
thee, wicked Mephostophilis,
Because
thou hast
deprived me of those
joys.
’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 breathe on earth.
How prov’st
thou that?
’Twas
made for man; then he’s more excellent.
If
heaven was made for man, ’twas made for me:
I will renounce
this magic and repent.
the two
ANGELS.
ANGEL
Faustus,
repent, yet God will pity thee.
ANGEL
Thou
art a spirit,
God cannot pity thee.
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.
ANGEL
Ay,
but Faustus
never shall
repent.
ANGELS.
My
heart is
hard’ned, I cannot repent:
Scarce
can I name salvation,
faith, or heaven.
Swords,
poison,
halters, and envenomed steel,
Are
laid before me to dispatch
myself:
And
long ere this I should
have done
the deed,
Had
not sweet
pleasure
conquered 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 Mephostophilis?
Why
should
I die then, or basely
despair?
I
am resolved,
Faustus
shall
not repent.
Come Mephostophilis,
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?
As
are the elements, such
are the heavens,
Even
from the moon unto the imperial orb
Mutually folded in each
other’s spheres,
And jointly move upon one axletree,
Whose
termine
is
termed the world’s wide pole.
Nor are the names of Saturn,
Mars, or Jupiter
Feigned, but are evening stars.
But
have they all one motion, both situ
et
tempore?
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.
These
slender
questions Wagner can decide:
Hath Mephostophilis
no greater skill?
Who
knows not the double motion of the planets?
That the first
is finished
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?
How
many heavens, or spheres,
are there?
Nine:
the seven
planets, the firmament, and the empyrial
heaven.
But is there not Coelum
igneum, et
christalinum?
No, Faustus, they be but fables.
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?
Per
in
aequalem
motum, respectu
totius.
Well,
I am answered:
now tell me who made the world?
I
will not.
Sweet
Mephostophilis,
tell me.
Move
me not, Faustus.
Villain,
have I not bound thee to tell me anything?
Ay,
that is not against
our kingdom.
This is. Thou art damned,
think
thou of hell.
Think
Faustus
upon God, that made the world.
Remember
this, -------
Ay,
go, accursed
spirit,
to ugly hell:
’Tis thou hast
damned distressed
Faustus’
soul.
Is’t
not too late?
the two ANGELS.
Too
late.
Never
too late, if Faustus
will repent.
If
thou repent, devils will
tear thee in pieces.
Repent,
and they shall
never raze thy skin.
ANGELS.
O
Christ,
my saviour, my saviour,
Help
to save
distressed
Faustus’
soul.
LUCIFER,
BEELZEBUB, and MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
Christ
cannot save
thy soul,
for he is just;
There’s none but I have interest
in the same.
O
what art thou that look’st
so
terribly.
am Lucifer, and this is my companion Prince in hell.
O Faustus,
they are come to fetch thy soul.
are come to tell thee thou dost
injure us.
Thou callst
on Christ
contrary to thy promise.
Thou
should’st
not think on God.
Think on the devil.
his dam too.
Nor
will Faustus
henceforth: pardon him for this,
And Faustus
vows never to look to heaven.
So
shalt
thou show thyself an obedient servant,
And
we will highly gratify thee for it.
BEELZEBUB
Faustus,
we are come from hell in person
to show
thee some
pastime:
sit
down and thou shalt
behold
the seven
deadly sins
appear to thee in their own proper shapes
and likeness.
FAUSTUS
That
sight
will be as pleasant
to me, as Paradise
was to Adam the first
day of his creation.
LUCIFER
Talk
not of Paradise
or creation, but mark the show;
go Mephostophilis,
fetch them in.
Enter
the
SEVEN
DEADLY SINS.
BEELZEBUB
Now Faustus,
question
them of their names and dispositions.
FAUSTUS
That shall I soon. What
art thou the first?
PRIDE
I
am Pride; I disdain
to have any parents. I am like to Ovid’s Flea,
I can creep into every corner of a wench. Sometimes, like a periwig,
I
sit
upon her brow; next, like a necklace I hang about her neck. Then,
like a fan of feathers, I kiss
her; and then turning myself
to a wrought smock do what I list. But
fie, what a smell
is here? I’ll not speak
a word more for a king’s ransom,
unless
the ground be perfumed, and covered with cloth of arras.
FAUSTUS
Thou art a proud knave indeed. What
art thou the second?
COVETOUSNESS
I
am Covetousness,
begotten of an old churl in a leather bag; and might I now obtain my
wish,
this house
you and all, should
turn
to gold, that I might lock you safe
into
my chest.
O my sweet
gold!
FAUSTUS
And what
art thou, the third?
ENVY
I
am Envy, begotten of a Chimneysweeper and an Oyster-wife.
I cannot read, and therefore wish
all books burned. I am lean with seeing
others eat. O that there would come a famine over
all the world, that all might die, and I live alone, then thou
should’st
see
how fat I’d be. But must
thou sit,
and I stand?
Come down, with a vengeance.
FAUSTUS
Out
envious wretch! But what art thou the fourth?
WRATH
I
am Wrath; I had neither father nor mother, I leapt out of a lion’s
mouth when I was scarce
an hour old, and
ever since have run up and down the world with these case of rapiers,
wounding myself when I could get none to fight withal. I was born in
hell, and look to it, for some of you shall be my father.
FAUSTUS
And what
art thou, the fifth?
GLUTTONY
I
am Gluttony; my parents are all dead, and the devil a penny they have
left me, but a small
pension, and that buys me thirty meals a day, and ten beavers:
a
small
trifle to suffice
nature. I come
of a royal pedigree; my father was a gammon of bacon, and my mother
was a hogs-head of claret wine. My godfathers were these:
Peter-pickled-herring, and Martin Martlemass-beef.
But my god-mother, O she
was an ancient gentlewoman, her name was Margery March-beer. Now,
Faustus,
thou hast
heard all my progeny, wilt thou bid me to supper?
FAUSTUS
Not
I.
GLUTTONY
Then
the devil choke thee.
FAUSTUS
Choke
thyself,
glutton. What art thou, the sixth?
SLOTH
Hey ho; I
am Sloth.
I was begotten on a sunny
bank: hey ho! I’ll not speak
a word more for a king’s ransom.
FAUSTUS
And what
are you, Mistress
Minx, the seventh
and last?
LECHERY
Who
I, I sir?
I am one that loves an inch of raw mutton, better than an ell of
fried stockfish:
and the first
letter of my name begins with Lechery.
LUCIFER
Away to hell, away on piper.
Exit
the SEVEN
SINS.
O
how this sight
doth delight
my soul!
But
Faustus,
in hell is all manner of delight.
O
might I see
hell, and return again safe,
how happy were I then.
Faustus, thou
shalt,
at midnight I will send
for thee;
Meanwhile
peruse
this book, and view it throughly,
And thou shalt
turn thyself
into what shape
thou wilt.
Thanks
mighty Lucifer:
This will I keep as chary as my life.
Now
Faustus,
farewell.
Farewell
great Lucifer: come, Mephostophilis.
omnes, several
ways.
the CLOWN.
What
Dick, look to the horses there till I come again.
I have gotten
one of Doctor Faustus’ conjuring books, and now we’ll have such
knavery, as’t passes.
DICK.
DICK
What Robin, you must come away and walk the horses.
ROBIN
I walk the horses, I scorn’t ’faith, I have other matters in
hand, let the horses walk themselves and they will. A per
se
a, t. h. e the: o per
se
o deny orgon, gorgon: keep further from me, O thou illiterate and
unlearned hostler.
DICK
’Snails, what hast thou got there, a book?
Why, thou canst
not tell ne’er a word on’t.
ROBIN
That thou shalt see presently: keep out of the circle, I say, lest I
send you into the ostry
with a vengeance.
DICK
That’s like ’faith: you had best leave your foolery, for an my
master come, he’ll conjure you ’faith.
ROBIN
My master conjure me? I’ll tell thee what, an my master come here,
I’ll clap as fair a pair of horns on’s head as e’er thou sawest
in thy life.
DICK
Thou needst not do that, for my mistress hath done it.
ROBIN
Ay, there be of us here that have waded as deep into matters as other
men, if they were disposed to talk.
DICK
A plague take you, I thought you did not sneak up and down after her
for nothing. But I prithee tell me, in good sadness Robin, is that a
conjuring book?
ROBIN
Do but speak what thou’t have me to do, and I’ll do’t. If
thou’t dance naked, put off thy clothes, and I’ll conjure thee
about presently. Or if thou’t go but to the tavern with me, I’ll
give thee white wine, red wine, claret wine, sack, muscadine, malmsey
and whippincrust, hold belly hold, and we’ll not pay one penny for
it.
DICK
O brave, prithee let’s to it presently, for I am as dry as a dog.
ROBIN
Come then, let’s away.
Exeunt.
[3.0]
Enter
the
CHORUS.
Learned
Faustus,
to find the secrets
of Astronomy
Graven in the book of Jove’s high firmament,
Did
mount him up to scale Olympus’ top.
Where, sitting in a
chariot burning bright,
Drawn by the strength of yoked dragons’
necks,
He
views the clouds, the planets, and the stars,
The tropic, zones,
and quarters of the sky,
From the bright circle of the horned
moon,
Even to the height of primum
mobile:
And
whirling round with this circumference,
Within the concave
compass of the pole,
From East to West his dragons swiftly
glide,
And in eight days did bring him home again.
Not long
he stayed within his quiet house
To rest his bones after his
weary toil,
But new exploits do hale him out again,
And
mounted then upon a dragon’s back,
That with his wings did
part the subtle air,
He now is gone to prove cosmography,
That
measures coasts and kingdoms of the earth:
And as I guess will
first arrive at Rome,
To see the Pope and manner of his
court,
And take some part of holy Peter’s feast,
The
which this day is highly solemnized.
FAUSTUS and MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
Having
now, my good Mephostophilis,
Passed
with delight the stately
town of Trier
–
Environed round with airy mountain tops,
With walls of
flint, and deep entrenched
lakes,
Not to be won by any conquering prince.
From Paris
next, coasting
the realm of France,
We saw
the river Maine fall into Rhines,
Whose
banks are set
with groves of fruitful vines.
Then up to Naples, rich
Campania,
Whose
buildings fair and gorgeous to the eye,
The streets
straight
forth, and paved with finest
brick.
There saw
we learned
Maro’s
golden tomb:
The
way he cut an English
mile in length,
Through a rock of stone
in one night’s space;
From
thence to Venice, Padua, and the East,
In
one of which a sumptuous
temple stands,
That
threats the stars
with her aspiring
top,
Whose
frame is paved with sundry coloured stones,
And roofed aloft
with curious work in gold.
Thus
hitherto hath Faustus
spent
his time.
But tell me now, what resting
place is this?
Hast
thou, as erst
I did command,
Conducted me within the walls of Rome?
I have, my Faustus,
and for proof thereof,
This
is the goodly palace of the Pope:
And
’cause
we are no common guests,
I
choose
his privy chamber for our use.
I
hope his Holiness
will bid us welcome.
All’s one, for we’ll be bold with his ven’son.
But
now, my Faustus,
that thou mayst
perceive
What Rome contains for to delight thine eyes:
Know
that this city stands
upon seven
hills,
That underprop the ground-work of the same;
Just
through the midst runs flowing Tiber’s stream
With winding
banks that cut it in two parts,
Over
the which two stately
bridges lean
That make safe
passage
to each part of Rome.
Upon the bridge, called Ponto
Angelo,
Erected is a castle
passing
strong,
Where
thou shalt
see such
store
of ordinance
As that the double cannons forged of brass
Do
watch the number of the days contained
Within the compass
of one complete year:
Besides
the gates, and high Pyramides
That Julius Caesar
brought from Africa.
Now, by the kingdoms of infernal rule,
Of Styx, of
Acheron, and the fiery lake
Of ever-burning Phlegeton,
I swear
That
I do long to see
the monuments
And situation
of bright splendent
Rome;
Come, therefore, let’s away.
Nay
stay,
my
Faustus:
I know you’d see
the Pope
And take some
part of holy Peter’s feast,
The
which this day with high solemnity
This
day is held through Rome and Italy
In honour of the Pope’s
triumphant victory.
Sweet
Mephostophilis,
thou pleasest me.
Whilst
I am here on earth,
let me be cloyed
With all things that delight the heart of
man.
My four and twenty years of liberty
I’ll spend in
pleasure and in dalliance,
That Faustus’ name, whilst this
bright frame doth stand,
May be admired through the furthest
land.
’Tis well said, Faustus, come then stand by me
And thou
shalt see them come immediately.
Nay stay, my gentle Mephostophilis,
And grant me my
request, and then I go.
Thou know’st within the compass of
eight days,
We viewed the face of heaven, of earth and hell.
So
high our dragons soared into the air
That looking down the earth
appeared to me
No bigger than my hand in quantity.
There
did we view the kingdoms of the world,
And what might please
mine eye, I there beheld.
Then in this show let me an actor
be,
That this proud Pope may Faustus’ coming see.
Let it be so, my Faustus, but first stay
And view their
triumphs, as they pass this way,
And then devise what best
contents thy mind,
By coming in thine art to cross the Pope,
Or
dash the pride of this solemnity;
To make his monks and abbots
stand like apes,
And point like antics at his triple crown:
To
beat the heads about the friars’ pates,
Or clap huge horns
upon the cardinals’ heads;
Or any villainy thou canst
devise,
And I’ll perform it Faustus. Hark, they come:
This
day shall make thee be admired in Rome.
the cardinals and bishops, some bearing crosiers, some the pillars;
monks and friars, singing their procession. Then the POPE,
and RAYMOND,
King of Hungary, with BRUNO
led in chains.
Cast down our footstool.
Saxon
Bruno stoop,
on thy back his holiness ascends
Saint Peter’s chair and state
pontifical.
Proud Lucifer, that state belongs to me:
But thus I fall
to Peter, not to thee.
To me and Peter, shalt thou grovelling lie,
And crouch
before the papal dignity:
Sound trumpets then, for thus Saint
Peter’s heir,
From Bruno’s back ascends Saint Peter’s
chair.
flourish while he ascends.
as the gods creep on with feet of wool
Long ere with iron hands
they punish men,
So shall our sleeping vengeance now arise,
And
smite with death thy hated enterprise.
Lord Cardinals of France
and Padua,
Go forthwith to our holy consistory,
And read
amongst the Statutes Decretal,
What by the holy Council held at
Trent,
The sacred Synod hath decreed for him,
That doth
assume the Papal government,
Without election, and a true
consent:
Away and bring us word with speed.
CARDINAL
We
go my Lord.
CARDINALS.
Lord
Raymond.
Go,
haste
thee gentle Mephostophilis,
Follow the cardinals to the
consistory;
And as they turn their superstitious books,
Strike
them with sloth, and drowsy idleness,
And make them sleep so
sound that in their shapes
Thyself and I may parley with this
Pope,
This proud confronter of the Emperor,
And in despite
of all his holiness
Restore this Bruno to his liberty,
And
bear him to the states of Germany.
Faustus, I go.
it soon,
Pope shall curse that Faustus came to Rome.
FAUSTUS
and
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
Pope
Adrian, let me have some
right of law;
I was elected by the Emperor.
We will depose the Emperor for that deed,
And curse the
people that submit to him;
Both he and thou shalt stand
excommunicate,
And interdict from Church’s privilege,
And
all society of holy men:
He grows too proud in his authority,
Lifting his lofty head above the clouds,
And like a
steeple over-peers the Church.
But we’ll pull down his haughty
insolence;
And as Pope Alexander our Progenitor
Trod on the
neck of German Frederick,
Adding this golden sentence to our
praise:
That Peter’s heirs should tread on emperors,
And
walk upon the dreadful adder’s back,
Treading the lion and the
dragon down,
And fearless spurn the killing basilisk.
So
will we quell that haughty schismatic;
And by authority
apostolical
Depose him from his regal government.
Pope Julius swore to princely Sigismond
For him, and the
succeeding Popes of Rome,
To hold the emperors their lawful
lords.
Pope Julius did abuse the Church’s rites
And therefore
none of his decrees can stand.
Is not all power on earth
bestowed on us?
And therefore though we would we cannot
err.
Behold this silver belt whereto is fixed
Seven golden
seals fast sealed with seven seals,
In token of our seven-fold
power from heaven,
To bind or loose, lock fast, condemn, or
judge,
Resign, or seal, or what so pleaseth us.
Then he and
thou and all the world shall stoop,
Or be assured of our
dreadful curse,
To light as heavy as the pains of hell.
FAUSTUS and
MEPHOSTOPHILIS like
the cardinals.
Now tell me, Faustus, are we not fitted well?
Yes, Mephostophilis, and two such cardinals
Ne’er served
a holy Pope as we shall do.
But whilst they sleep within the
consistory,
Let us salute his reverend fatherhood.
Behold, my lord, the Cardinals are returned.
Welcome, grave fathers, answer presently
What have our
holy council there decreed
Concerning Bruno
and the Emperor,
In quittance of their late conspiracy
Against
our state, and Papal dignity?
Most sacred patron of the Church of Rome,
By
full consent of all the Synod
Of priests and prelates, it is
thus decreed:
That Bruno,
and
the German Emperor
Be held as Lollards, and bold schismatics,
And proud disturbers of the Church’s peace.
And if that
Bruno
by his own assent,
Without enforcement of the German peers,
Did
seek to wear the triple diadem
And by your death to climb Saint
Peter’s
chair,
The statutes decretal have thus decreed
He shall be
straight condemned of heresy,
And on pile of fagots burnt to
death.
It is enough: here, take him to your charge,
And bear him
straight to Ponto
Angelo,
And
in the strongest tower enclose him fast;
Tomorrow, sitting in
our consistory,
With all our college of grave cardinals,
We
will determine of his life or death.
Here, take his triple crown
along with you,
And leave it in the Church’s treasury.
Make
haste again, my good Lord Cardinals,
And take our blessing
apostolical.
So, so, was never devil thus blest before.
Away,
sweet Mephostophilis,
be
gone;
The cardinals will be plagued for this anon.
FAUSTUS and MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
Go presently, and bring a banquet forth,
That we may
solemnize Saint Peter’s
feast,
And
with Lord Raymond,
King
of Hungary,
Drink to our late and happy victory.
sennet while the banquet
is brought in; and then enter FAUSTUS
and MEPHOSTOPHILIS
in their own
shapes.
Now Faustus,
come
prepare thyself for mirth;
The sleepy cardinals are hard at
hand
To censure Bruno,
that is posted hence,
And on a proud-paced steed as swift as
thought
Flies o’er the Alps to fruitful Germany,
There to
salute the woeful Emperor.
The Pope will curse them for their sloth today,
That slept
both Bruno
and his crown away;
But now, that Faustus may delight his
mind
And by their folly make some merriment,
Sweet
Mephostophilis,
so
charm me here
That I may walk invisible to all,
And do
whate’er I please, unseen of any.
Faustus,
thou
shalt; then kneel down presently,
Whilst
on
thy head I lay my hand,
And charm thee with this magic
wand;
First
wear this girdle, then appear
Invisible
to all are here:
The planets seven,
the gloomy air,
Hell and the Furies’ forked hair,
Pluto’s
blue fire, and Hecat’s tree
With magic spells
so
compass
thee
That no eye may thy body see.
So
Faustus,
now for all their holiness,
Do what thou wilt, thou shalt not be
discerned.
Thanks Mephastophilis,
now
friars take heed,
Lest Faustus
make your shaven crowns to bleed.
Faustus,
no more: see where the cardinals come.
POPE and
all the
LORDS. Enter
the
CARDINALS with
a book.
Welcome,
Lord Cardinals: come sit down.
Lord Raymond,
take
your seat, friars attend,
And see that all things be in
readiness
As best beseems this solemn festival.
CARDINAL
First, may it please your sacred Holiness,
To view
the sentence of the reverend synod
Concerning Bruno
and the Emperor.
What
needs this question? Did I not tell you,
Tomorrow we would sit
i’th’ consistory,
And there determine of his punishment?
You
brought us word even now it was decreed
That Bruno
and
the cursed Emperor
Were by the holy Council both condemned
For
loathed Lollards, and base schismatics:
Then wherefore would you
have me view that book?
CARDINAL
Your Grace mistakes, you gave us no such charge.
Deny
it not, we all are witnesses
That Bruno
here was late delivered you,
With his rich triple crown to be
reserved
And put into the Church’s treasury.
CARDINALES
holy Paul,
we
saw them not.
By Peter,
you shall die
Unless you bring them forth immediately:
Hale
them to prison, lade their limbs with gyves;
False prelates, for
this hateful treachery
Cursed be your souls to hellish misery.
So, they are safe: now Faustus
to the feast;
The Pope had never such a frolic guest.
Lord Archbishop of Rheims,
sit
down with us.
I thank your Holiness.
Fall to, the Devil choke you an you spare.
Who’s that spoke? Friars look
about;
Lord Raymond,
pray fall too,
I am beholding
To the Bishop of Millaine,
for this so rare a present.
I thank you, sir.
How now? Who snatched the meat from me!
Villains, why
speak you not?
My
good
Lord Archbishop, here’s a most dainty dish
Was
sent
me from a cardinal in France.
I’ll
have that too.
What Lollards do attend our Holiness,
That we receive such
great indignity? Fetch me some wine.
Ay, pray do, for Faustus
is a dry.
Lord
Raymond,
I drink unto your grace.
I pledge your grace.
POPE
My wine gone too?
Ye lubbers, look about
And find the man that doth this
villainy,
Or by our sanctitude you all shall die.
I pray my
lords, have patience at this
Troublesome banquet.
BISHOP
Please it your holiness, I think it be some ghost crept out of
Purgatory, and now is come unto your holiness for his pardon.
POPE
It
may be so:
Go then command our priests to sing a dirge,
To
lay the fury of this same troublesome ghost.
FAUSTUS
How
now? Must every bit be spiced with a Cross?
Nay then take
that.
POPE
O,
I am slain, help me, my lords:
O come and help to bear my body
hence:
Damned be this soul forever for this deed.
the
POPE and
his train.
Now
Faustus,
what will you do now? For I can tell you
You’ll be curst with
bell, book, and candle.
Bell,
book, and candle; candle, book, and bell,
Forward and backward,
to curse Faustus
to hell.
the
FRIARS with
bell, book,
and candle, for the dirge.
FRIAR
Come
brethren, let’s about our business with good devotion.
Cursed
be he that stole
his holiness’
meat from the table.
Maledicat
Dominus.
Cursed
be he that struck
his holiness
a blow the face.
Maledicat
Dominus.
Cursed
be he that struck
Friar Sandelo a blow on the pate,
Maledicat
Dominus.
Cursed
be he that disturbeth
our holy dirge.
Maledicat
Dominus.
Cursed
be he that took away his holiness’
wine.
Maledicat
Dominus.
the FRIARS,
fling fire work
among them, and exeunt.
CLOWN
and
DICK, with
a cup.
DICK
Sirrah Robin,
we
were best look that your devil can answer the stealing of this same
cup, for the vintner’s boy follows us at the hard heels.
ROBIN
’Tis no matter, let him come; an he follow us, I’ll so conjure
him as he was never conjured in his life, I warrant him: let me see
the cup.
Enter
VINTNER.
DICK
Here ’tis! Yonder he comes. Now, Robin,
now
or never show thy cunning.
VINTNER
O, are you here? I am glad I have found you, you are a couple of fine
companions: pray where’s the cup you stole from the tavern?
ROBIN
How, how? We steal a cup? Take heed what you say, we look not like
cup-stealers I can tell you.
VINTNER
Never deny’t, for I know you have it, and I’ll search you.
ROBIN
Search me? Ay and spare not: hold the cup, Dick
–
come,
come, search me, search me.
VINTNER
Come on sirrah, let me search you now.
DICK
Ay, ay, do, do – hold the cup Robin
–
I fear not your searching; we scorn to steal your cups I can tell
you.
VINTNER
Never out-face me for the matter, for sure the cup is between you
two.
ROBIN
Nay there you lie, ’tis beyond us both.
VINTNER
A
plague take you, I thought ’twas your knavery to take it away!
Come, give it me again.
ROBIN
Ay
much, when can you tell! Dick,
make me a circle, and stand close at my back, and stir not for thy
life; Vintner
you
shall have your cup anon, say nothing, Dick.
O per
se o,
demogorgon,
Belcher
and
Mephostophilis.
Enter
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
You
princely legions of infernal rule,
How
am I vexed by these
villains’ charms!
From Constantinople
have they brought me now,
Only for pleasure
of these
damned slaves.
By
Lady sir, you have had a shroud journey of it; will it please you to
take a shoulder of mutton to supper, and a tester in your purse, and
go back again.
Ay, ay pray you heartily sir; for we called you but in jest I promise
you.
To
purge the rashness of this cursed deed,
First,
be thou turned to this ugly shape,
For apish deeds transformed
to an ape.
ROBIN
O brave, an ape? I
pray sir, let me have the carrying of him about to show some tricks.
MEPHOSTOPHILIS
And so thou shalt: be thou transformed to a dog, and carry him upon
thy back; away be gone.
ROBIN
A
dog? That's excellent: let the maids look well to their
porridge-pots, for I’ll into the kitchen presently; come Dick,
come.
Exeunt
the two
CLOWNS.
Now with the flames of ever-burning fire,
I’ll wing
myself and forth-with fly amain
Unto my Faustus,
to the great Turk’s court.
M ARTINO
and
FREDERICK at
several doors.
What ho, officers, gentlemen,
Hie to the presence to
attend the Emperor;
Good Frederick
see
the rooms be voided straight,
His Majesty is coming to the
hall;
Go back, and see the state in readiness.
But where is Bruno,
our
elected Pope,
That on a Fury’s back came post from Rome?
Will
not his grace consort the Emperor?
O yes, and with him comes the German
conjurer:
The
learned Faustus,
fame
of Wittenberg,
The
wonder of the world for magic art;
And he intends to show great
Carolus
The
race of all his stout progenitors;
And bring in presence of his
Majesty
The royal shapes and warlike semblances
Of
Alexander
and
his beauteous paramour.
Where is Benvolio?
Fast
asleep, I warrant you;
He took his rouse with stoups of Rhenish
wine
So kindly yesternight to Bruno’s
health
That
all this day the sluggard keeps his bed.
See, see his window’s ope, we’ll call to him.
What ho, Benvolio!
BENVOLIO above
at a window, in his nightcap: buttoning.
What a devil ail you two?
Speak softly sir, least the devil hear you:
For Faustus
at the court is late arrived,
And at his heels a thousand Furies
wait
To accomplish whatsoever the doctor please.
What of this?
Come, leave thy chamber first, and thou shalt see
This
conjurer perform such rare exploits
Before the Pope and royal
Emperor
As never yet was seen in Germany.
Has
not the Pope enough of conjuring yet?
He was upon the devil’s
back late enough;
And if he be so far in love with him,
I
would he would post with him to Rome
again.
Speak, wilt thou come and see this sport?
Not I.
Wilt
thou stand in thy window and see it, then?
Ay, and I fall not asleep i’th mean time.
The Emperor is at hand, who comes to see
What wonders by
black spells may compassed be.
BENVOLIO
Well, go you attend the Emperor. I am content for this once to thrust
my head out at a window: for they say, if a man be drunk overnight,
the Devil cannot hurt him in the morning; if that be true, I have a
charm in my head shall control him as well as the conjurer, I warrant
you.
Exit.
sennet. Charles the
German
EMPEROR,
BRUNO, SAXONY, FAUSTUS, MEPHOSTOPHILIS, FREDERICK, MARTINO, and
attendants.
Wonder of men, renowned magician,
Thrice learned Faustus,
welcome to our court.
This deed of thine, in setting Bruno
free
From his and our professed enemy,
Shall add more
excellence unto thine art
Than if by powerful necromantic
spells
Thou couldst command the world’s obedience:
Forever
be beloved of Carolus.
And
if this Bruno
thou hast late redeemed
In peace possess the triple diadem,
And
sit in Peter’s
chair,
despite of chance,
Thou shalt be famous through all Italy,
And
honoured of the German Emperor.
These gracious words, most royal Carolus,
Shall
make poor Faustus
to
his utmost power,
Both love and serve the German Emperor,
And
lay his life at holy Bruno’s
feet.
For proof whereof, if so your Grace be pleased,
The
doctor stands prepared, by power of art,
To cast his magic
charms, that shall pierce through
The ebon gates of ever-burning
hell,
And hale the stubborn Furies from their caves,
To
compass whatso’er your grace commands.
BENVOLIO
Blood, he speaks terribly: but for all that, I do not greatly believe
him, he looks
as like conjurer as the Pope to a coster-monger.
Then Faustus,
as
thou late didst promise us,
We
would behold that famous conqueror,
Great Alexander, and his
paramour
In their true shapes,
and state
majestical,
That
we may wonder at their excellence.
Your
Majesty shall see them presently;
Mephostophilis,
away,
And
with a solemn noise of trumpets’ sound
Present before this
royal Emperor
Great Alexander
and
his beauteous paramour.
Faustus,
I will.
BENVOLIO
Well
Master Doctor, an your devils come not away quickly, you shall have
me asleep presently: zounds I could eat myself for anger, to think I
have been such an ass all this while, to stand gaping after the
devil’s governor, and can see nothing.
I’ll
make you feel something anon, if my art fail me not.
My
Lord, I must forewarn your Majesty,
That when my spirits present
the royal shapes
Of Alexander
and
his paramour
Your grace demand no questions of the king,
But
in dumb silence let them come and go.
Be it as Faustus
please, we are content.
BENVOLIO
Ay,
ay, and I am content too: and thou bring Alexander
and his paramour before the Emperor, I’ll be Acteon,
and turn myself to a stag.
FAUSTUS
And
I’ll play Diana,
and send you the horns presently.
Enter at one the Emperor
Alexander, at the other Darius; they meet,
Darius is thrown
down,
Alexander kills
him; takes off his crown, and offering to go
out, his paramour meets
him, he embraceth her, and sets Darius’
crown
upon her head; and coming
back,
both salute the EMPEROR
who, leaving his state, offers to embrace them, which FAUSTUS
seeing,
suddenly stays
him. Then trumpets cease, and music
sounds.
gracious lord, you do forget yourself;
These are but shadows,
not substantial.
O pardon me, my thoughts are so ravished
With sight of
this renowned Emperor,
That in mine arms I would have compassed
him.
But Faustus,
since I may not speak to them
To satisfy my longing thoughts at
full,
Let me this tell thee: I have heard it said,
That
this fair lady, whilst she lived on earth,
Had on her neck a
little wart, or mole;
How may I prove that saying to be true?
Your Majesty
may boldly go and see.
Faustus,
I see it plain,
And in this sight thou better pleasest me,
Then
if I gained another monarchy.
Away,
be gone.
show.
see, my gracious lord, what strange beast is yon, that thrusts his
head out at window.
O
wondrous sight: see Duke of Saxony,
Two
spreading horns most strangely fastened
Upon the head of young
Benvolio.
What,
is he asleep, or dead?
He
sleeps, my lord, but dreams not of his horns.
This sport is excellent: we’ll call and wake him.
What
ho, Benvolio.
A plague upon you, let me sleep a while.
I
blame thee not to sleep much, having such a head of thine own.
Look up Benvolio,
’tis
the Emperor calls.
The Emperor? Where? O zounds, my head.
Nay, and thy horns hold, ’tis no matter for thy head, for that’s
armed sufficiently.
FAUSTUS
Why, how now sir knight, what hanged by the horns? This most
horrible: fie, fie, pull in your head for shame, let not all the
world wonder at you.
Zounds Doctor, is this your villainy?
O say not so sir:
the doctor has no skill,
No art, no cunning to present these
lords,
Or bring before this royal Emperor
The mighty
monarch, warlike Alexander.
If
Faustus
do it, you are straight resolved,
In bold Acteon’s
shape to turn a stag.
And therefore, my lord, so please your
Majesty,
I’ll raise a kennel of hounds shall hunt him so
As
all his footmanship
shall scarce prevail
To keep his carcass from their bloody
fangs.
Ho, Belimote,
Argiron, Asterote.
BENVOLIO
Hold,
hold: zounds he’ll raise up a kennel of devils I think anon: good
my Lord entreat for me: ’sblood, I am never able to endure these
torments.
Then, good
Master Doctor,
Let me entreat you to remove his horns;
He
has done penance now sufficiently.
FAUSTUS
My gracious lord, not so much for injury done to me, as to delight
your Majesty with some mirth, hath Faustus
justly
requited this injurious knight, which being all I desire, I am
content to remove his horns. Mephostophilis,
transform him; and hereafter sir, look you speak well of scholars.
BENVOLIO
Speake well of ye? ’sblood, and scholars be such cuckold-makers to
clap horns of honest men’s heads o’ this order, I’ll ne’er
trust smooth faces, and small ruffs more. But an I be not revenged
for this, would I might be turned to a gaping oyster, and drink
nothing but salt water.
Come Faustus,
while the Emperor lives,
In recompense of this thy high
desert
Thou shalt command the state of Germany,
And
live beloved of mighty Carolus.
omnes.
BENVOLIO,
MARTINO, FREDERICK, and
SOLDIERS.
Nay,
sweet Benvolio,
let
us sway thy thoughts
From this attempt against the conjurer.
Away,
you love me not, to urge me thus;
Shall I let slip so great an
injury,
When every servile groom
jests at my wrongs,
And in their rustic gambols proudly
say
Benvolio’s
head
was graced with horns today?
O, may these eyelids never close
again,
Till with my sword I have that conjurer slain.
If
you will aid me in this enterprise
Then draw your weapons, and
be resolute:
If not, depart; here will Benvolio
die,
But
Faustus’
death shall quit my infamy.
Nay,
we will stay with thee, betide what may,
And kill that doctor if
he come this way.
Then
gentle Frederick,
hie thee to the grove,
And place our servants, and our
followers
Close in an ambush there behind the trees,
By
this, I know, the conjurer is near;
I saw him kneel, and kiss
the Emperor’s hand,
And take his leave, laden with rich
rewards.
Then soldiers, boldly fight; if Faustus
die,
Take
you the wealth, leave us the victory.
Come soldiers, follow me unto the grove;
Who kills him
shall have gold, and endless love.
FREDERICK with
the
SOLDIERS.
My head is lighter than it was by th’horns,
But yet my
heart more ponderous than my head,
And pants until I see that
conjurer dead.
Where
shall we place ourselves, Benvolio?
Here
will we stay to bide the first assault,
O were that damned
hell-hound but in place,
Thou soon
shouldst see me quit my foul disgrace.
FREDERICK.
Close, close, the conjurer is at hand,
And all alone comes
walking in his gown;
Be ready then, and strike the peasant down.
Mine be that honour then: now sword strike home,
For horns
he gave, I’ll have his head anon.
FAUSTUS
with
the false head.
See, see, he comes.
No words: this blow ends all,
take his soul, his body thus must fall.
Oh.
Groan you, Master Doctor?
Break may his heart with groans: dear Frederik
see
Thus will I end his griefs immediately.
Strike with a willing hand, his head is off.
The devil’s dead, the Furies now may laugh.
Was this that stern aspect, that awful frown,
Made the
grim monarch of infernal spirits
Tremble and quake at his
commanding charms?
Was this that damned head, whose heart conspired
Benvolio’s
shame
before the Emperor.
Ay, that’s the head, and here the body lies,
Justly
rewarded for his villainies.
Come, let’s devise how we may add more shame
To the
black scandal of his hated name.
First, on his head, in quittance of my wrongs,
I’ll nail
huge forked horns, and let them hang
Within the window where he
yoked me first,
That all the world may see my just revenge.
What use shall we put his beard to?
BENVOLIO
We’ll sell it to a chimney-sweeper: it will wear out ten birchen
brooms,
I warrant you.
FREDERICK
What shall eyes do?
BENVOLIO
We’ll put out his eyes, and they shall serve for buttons to his
lips, to keep his tongue from catching cold.
MARTINO
An excellent policy: and now sirs, having divided him, what shall the
body do?
Zounds, the devil’s alive again.
Give him his head for God’s sake.
Nay keep it: Faustus
will
have heads and hands,
I call your hearts to recompense this
deed.
Knew you not traitors, I was limited
For four and
twenty years, to breathe on earth?
And had you cut my body with
your swords,
Or hewed this flesh and bones as small as sand,
Yet
in a minute had my spirit returned,
And I had breathed a man
made free from harm.
But wherefore do I dally my
revenge?
Asteroth,
Belimoth, Mephostophilis,
MEPHOSTOPHILIS and
other
DEVILS.
horse these traitors on your fiery backs,
And mount aloft with
them as high as heaven,
Thence pitch them headlong to the lowest
hell:
Yet stay, the world shall see their misery,
And hell
shall after plague their treachery.
Go Belimoth,
and
take this caitiff hence,
And hurl him in some lake of mud and
dirt:
Take thou this other, drag him through the woods,
Amongst
the pricking thorns, and sharpest briers,
Whilst with my gentle
Mephostophilis
This
traitor flies unto some steepy rock,
That rolling down may break
the villain’s bones,
As he intended to dismember me.
Fly
hence, dispatch my charge immediately.
Pity us, gentle Faustus,
save our lives,
Away.
He
must needs go that the Devil drives.
SPIRITS
with
the knights.
the ambushed
SOLDIERS.
SOLDIER
Come sirs, prepare yourselves in readiness,
Make
hast to help these noble gentlemen,
I heard them parley with the
conjurer.
SOLDIER
See where he comes, dispatch, and kill the slave.
What’s here? An ambush to betray my life:
Then Faustus
try
thy skill: base peasants stand,
For lo these trees remove at my
command,
And stand as bulwarks twixt yourselves and me
To
shield me from your hated treachery:
Yet to encounter this your
weak attempt,
Behold an army comes incontinent.
strikes
the door, and enter a devil playing on a drum, after him another
bearing an ensign:
and divers with weapons,
MEPHOSTOPHILIS with
fireworks; they set
upon the SOLDIERS
and
drive them out.
at several
doors
BENVOLIO, FREDERICK, and
MARTINO,
their
heads and faces bloody,
and besmeared with mud and dirt;
all having horns
on their heads.
What ho, Benvolio.
Here,
what Frederick,
ho.
O help me, gentle friend; where is Martino?
Dear
Frederick,
here,
Half smothered in a lake of mud and dirt,
Through
which the Furies dragged me by the heels.
Martino
see,
Benvolio’s
horns
again.
O misery, how now Benvolio?
Defend me heaven, shall I be haunted still?
Nay fear not man, we have no power to kill.
My
friends transformed thus: O hellish spite,
Your heads are all
set with horns.
You hit it right,
is your own you mean, feel on your head.
Zons, horns again.
Nay chafe not man, we all are sped.
What devil attends this damned magician
That spite of
spite, our wrongs are doubled?
What may we do, that we may hide our shames?
If we should follow him to work revenge,
He’d join long
asses’ ears to these huge horns,
And make us laughing stocks
to all the world.
MARTINO
What shall we then do, dear
Benvolio?
BENVOLIO
I
have a castle joining near these woods,
And thither we’ll
repair and live obscure,
Till time shall alter this our brutish
shapes:
Sith black disgrace hath thus eclipsed our fame,
We’ll
rather die with grief, than live with shame.
omnes.
FAUSTUS,
and
the
HORSE-COURSER, and
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
HORSE-COURSER
I beseech your worship accept of these forty dollars.
FAUSTUS
Friend,
thou canst not buy so good a horse for so small a price: I have no
great need to sell him, but if thou likest him for ten dollars more,
take him, because I see thou hast a good mind to him.
HORSE-COURSER
I beseech you sir, accept of this; I am a very poor man, and have
lost very much of late by horse flesh, and this bargain will set me
up again.
FAUSTUS
Well, I
will not stand with thee, give me the money: now sirrah I must tell
you, that you may ride him o’er hedge and ditch, and spare him not;
but do you hear? In any case, ride him not into the water.
HORSE-COURSER
How sir, not into the water? Why,
will he not drink of all waters?
FAUSTUS
Yes,
he will drink of all waters, but ride him not into the water; o’er
hedge and ditch, or where thou wilt, but not into the water. Go
bid the Hostler deliver him unto you, and remember what I say.
HORSE-COURSER
I warrant you, sir. O joyful day! Now
am I a made man forever.
Exit.
What art thou, Faustus,
but a man condemned to die?
Thy fatal time draws to final
end;
Despair
doth drive distrust
into my thoughts.
Confound these
passions
with a quiet sleep:
Tush,
Christ
did call the thief upon the cross;
Then
rest
thee, Faustus,
quiet in conceit.
sits
to sleep.
HORSE-COURSER
wet.
HORSE-COURSER
O what a cozening doctor was this? I, riding my horse into the water,
thinking some hidden mystery had been in the horse, I had nothing
under me but a little straw, and had much ado to escape drowning.
Well I’ll go rouse him, and make him give me my forty dollars
again. Ho sirrah Doctor, you cozening scab! Master Doctor, awake, and
rise, and give me my money again, for your horse is turned to a
bottle of hay — Master Doctor.
pulls
off his leg.
I am undone, what shall I do? I have pulled off his leg.
O
help, help, the villain hath murdered me.
HORSE-COURSER
Murder or not murder, now he has but one leg, I’ll out-run him, and
cast this leg into some ditch or other.
FAUSTUS
Stop him, stop him, stop him — ha, ha, ha,
Faustus
hath his leg again, and the horse-courser
a bundle of hay for his forty dollars.
Enter
WAGNER.
How
now, Wagner, what news with thee?
WAGNER
If it please you, the
Duke of Vanholt doth earnestly
entreat your company, and
hath sent some of his men to attend you with provision fit for your
journey.
FAUSTUS
The Duke of Vanholt's an honourable gentleman, and one to whom I must
be no niggard of my cunning. Come away.
Exeunt.
[4.5]
Enter
CLOWN,
DICK, HORSE-COURSER, and
a
CARTER.
CARTER
Come my masters, I’ll bring you to the best beer in Europe, what
ho, Hostess; where be these whores?
Enter
HOSTESS.
HOSTESS
How now, what lack you? What my old guesse welcome.
CLOWN
Sirrah Dick, dost thou know why I stand so mute?
DICK
No, Robin, why is’t?
CLOWN
I am eighteen pence on the score, but say nothing, see if she have
forgotten me.
HOSTESS
Who’s this, that stands so solemnly by himself: what, my old guest?
CLOWN
O Hostess, how do you? I hope my score stands still.
HOSTESS
Ay there’s no doubt of that, for me thinks you make no hast to wipe
it out.
DICK
Why Hostess, I say, fetch us some beer.
HOSTESS
You shall presently: look up into th’hall there, ho.
Exit.
DICK
Come sirs, what shall we do now till mine hostess comes?
CARTER
Marry sir, I’ll tell you the bravest tale how a conjurer served me;
you know Doctor Fauster.
HORSE-COURSER
Ay,
a plague take him, here’s some on’s have
cause
to know him; did he conjure thee too?
CARTER
I’ll tell you how he served me. As I was going to Wittenberg
t’other day, with a load of hay, he met me, and asked me what he
should give me for as much hay as he could eat; now sir, I thinking
that a little would serve his turn, bade him take as much as he would
for three farthings; so he presently gave me my money, and fell to
eating; and as I am a cursen man, he never left eating, till he had
eat up all my load of hay.
ALL
O monstrous, eat a whole load of hay!
CLOWN
Yes, yes, that may be; for I have heard of one, that has eat a load
of logs.
HORSE-COURSER
Now sirs, you shall hear how villainously he served me: I went to him
yesterday to buy a horse of him, and he would by no means sell him
under forty dollars; so sir, because I knew him to be such a horse,
as would run over hedge and ditch, and never tire, I gave him his
money; so when I had my horse, Doctor Fauster bade me ride him night
and day, and spare him no time; but, quoth he, in any case ride him
not into the water. Now sir, I thinking the horse had had some
quality that he would not have me know of, what did I but rid him
into a great river, and when I came just in the midst my horse
vanished away, and I sate straddling upon a bottle of hay.
ALL
O brave Doctor.
HORSE-COURSER
But you shall hear how bravely I served him for it; I went me home to
his house, and there I found him asleep; I kept a hallowing and
whooping in his ears, but all could not wake him. I, seeing that,
took him by the leg, and never rested pulling, till I had pulled me
his leg quite off, and now ’tis at home in mine hostry.
CLOWN
And has the doctor but one leg then? That’s excellent, for one of
his devils turned me into the likeness of an ape’s face.
CARTER
Some more drink, Hostess.
CLOWN
Hark you, we’ll into another room and drink a while, and then we’ll
go seek out the doctor.
Exeunt
omnes.
[
. ]
ENTER
the
DUKE
OF VANHOLT; his
DUTCHESS, FAUSTUS, and
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
Thanks, Master Doctor, for these pleasant sights,
Nor know
I how sufficiently to recompense your great deserts in erecting that
enchanted castle in the air: the
Sight whereof so delighted
me,
As nothing in the world could please me more.
FAUSTUS
I do think myself my good lord, highly recompensed, in that it
pleaseth your grace to think but well of that which Faustus hath
performed. But, gracious lady, it may be that you have taken no
pleasure in those sights; therefore I pray you tell me, what is the
thing you most desire to have, be it in the world, it shall be yours.
I have heard that great-bellied women do long for things are rare and
dainty.
LADY
True, Master Doctor, and since I find you so kind I will make known
unto you what my heart desires to have, and were it now summer, as it
is January, a dead time of the winter, I would request no better meat
than a dish of ripe grapes.
FAUSTUS
This is but a small matter. Go, Mephostophilis, away.
Exit
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
Madam,
I will do more than this for your content.
Enter
MEPHOSTOPHILIS again
with the grapes.
now taste ye these, they should be good
For they come from a far
country, I can tell you.
DUKE
This makes me wonder more than all the rest, that at this time of the
year, when every tree is barren of his fruit, from whence you had
these ripe grapes.
FAUSTUS
Please it your grace, the year is divided into two circles over the
whole world, so that when it is winter with us, in the contrary
circle it is likewise summer with them, as in India, Saba, and such
countries that lie far East, where they have fruit twice a year. From
whence, by means of a swift spirit that I have, I had these grapes
brought as you see.
LADY
And trust me, they are the sweetest grapes that ere I tasted.
CLOWN
bounce
at the gate, within.
What rude disturbers have we at the gate?
Go pacify their
fury, set it ope,
And then demand of them what they would have.
knock
again,
and call out to talk
with FAUSTUS.
SERVANT
Why, how now masters, what a coil is there?
What
is the reason you disturb the Duke?
We have no reason for it, therefore a fig for him.
Why saucy varlets, dare you be so bold.
I hope sir, we have wit enough to be more bold than welcome.
It
appears so, pray be bold else-where,
And trouble not the Duke.
What
would they have?
They all cry out to speak with Doctor Faustus.
Ay,
and we will speak with him!
Will you sir? Commit the rascals.
Commit with us, he were as good commit with his father, as commit
with us.
I do beseech your grace let them come in,
They are good
subject for a merriment.
Do as thou wilt, Faustus,
I give thee leave.
I thank your grace.
the
CLOWN, DICK, CARTER, and HORSE-COURSER.
Why,
how now my good
friends?
you are too outrageous, but come near,
I have procured your
pardons: welcome all.
CLOWN
Nay sir, we will be welcome for our money, and we will pay for what
we take. What ho, give’s half a dozen of beer here, and be hanged.
Nay, hark you, can you tell me where you are?
Ay marry can I, we are under heaven.
Ay but sir sauce-box, know you in what place?
HORSE-COURSER
Ay, ay, the house is good enough to drink in. Zons fill us some beer,
or we’ll break all the barrels in the house, and dash out all your
brains with your bottles.
Be not so furious: come, you shall have beer.
My Lord,
beseech you give me leave a while;
I’ll gage my credit, ’twill
content your grace.
With all my heart, kind Doctor, please thyself;
Our
servants, and our court’s at thy command.
I humbly thank your grace: then fetch some beer.
HORSE-COURSER
Ay marry, there spake a Doctor indeed, and ’faith I’ll drink a
health to thy wooden leg for that word.
My wooden leg? What dost thou mean by that?
Ha, ha, ha, dost hear him, Dick, he has forgot his leg!
Ay, ay. He does not stand much upon that.
No faith, not much upon a wooden leg.
CARTER
Good Lord, that flesh and blood should be so frail with your worship!
Do not you remember a horse-courser you sold a horse to?
Yes, I remember I sold one a horse.
And do you remember you bid he should not ride into the water?
Yes, I do very well remember that.
And do you remember nothing of your leg?
No in good sooth.
Then I pray remember your curtesy.
I thank you, sir.
’Tis not so much worth; I pray you tell me one thing.
What’s that?
Be both your legs bedfellows every night together?
Wouldst thou make a Colossus of me, that thou askest me such
questions?
CARTER
No, truly sir, I would make nothing of you, but I would fain know
that.
Enter
HOSTESS
with
drink.
Then I assure thee certainly they are.
I thank you, I am fully satisfied.
But wherefore dost thou ask?
For nothing sir: but methinks you should have a wooden bedfellow of
one of ’em.
Why, do you hear sir, did not I pull off one of your legs when you
were asleep?
But I have it again now I am awake: look you here, sir.
O horrible, had the doctor three legs?
CARTER
Do you remember sir, how you cozened me and eat up my load of —
FAUSTUS
charms
him dumb.
DICK
Do you remember how you made me wear an ape’s —
HORSE-COURSER
You whoreson conjuring scab, do you remember how you cozened me with
a ho —
CLOWN
Ha’ you forgotten me? You think to carry it away with your
hey-pass, and re-pass: do you remember the dogs fa —
Exeunt
CLOWNS.
HOSTESS
Who pays for the ale? Hear you Master Doctor, now you have sent away
my guesse, I pray who shall pay me for my a — ?
Exit
HOSTESS.
My Lord,
We are much beholding to this learned
man.
So are we, madam, which we will recompense
With all the
love and kindness that we may.
His artful sport drives all sad
thoughts away.
and lightning.
Enter devils with covered dishes.
MEPHOSTOPHILIS
leads
them into FAUSTUS’
study.
Then enter
WAGNER.
WAGNER
I think my master means to die shortly; he has made his will, and
given me his wealth, his house, his goods, and store of golden plate;
besides two thousand ducats ready coined. I wonder what he means; if
death were nigh, he would not frolic thus. He’s now at supper with
the scholars, where there’s such belly-cheer, as Wagner in his life
ne’er saw the like: and see where they come, belike the feast is
done.
Exit.
Enter
FAUSTUS, MEPHOSTOPHILIS, and
two or three
SCHOLARS.
1
SCHOLAR Master Doctor Faustus, since our conference about fair
ladies, which was the beautifullest in all the world, we have
determined with ourselves, that Helen of Greece was the admirablest
lady that ever lived: therefore Master Doctor, if you will do us so
much favour, as to let us see that peerless dame of Greece, whom all
the world admires for majesty, we should think ourselves much
beholding unto you.
Gentlemen, for that
I know your friendship is unfeigned,
It is not Faustus’ custom
to deny
The just requests of those that wish him well:
You
shall behold that peerless dame of Greece,
No otherwise for pomp
or majesty,
Then when Sir Paris crossed the seas with her,
And
brought the spoils to rich Dardania:
Be silent then, for danger
is in words.
sound,
MEPHOSTOPHILIS brings
in
HELEN, she
passeth over the stage.
SCHOLAR
Was this fair Helen, whose admired
worth
Made
Greece with ten years’ wares afflict poor
Troy?
SCHOLAR
Too simple is my wit to tell her worth,
Whom all
the world admires for majesty.
SCHOLAR
Now we have seen the pride of Nature’s work,
We’ll
take our leaves, and for this blessed
sight
Happy and blest be Faustus evermore.
SCHOLARS.
Gentlemen, farewell: the same wish I to you.
an OLD
MAN.
MAN
O gentle
Faustus
leave this damned
art,
This magic, that will charm thy soul
to hell,
And
quite bereave thee of salvation.
Though
thou hast
now offended like a man,
Do
not persever
in it like a devil;
Yet,
yet, thou hast
an amiable soul,
If
sin
by custom grow not into nature:
Then,
Faustus,
will repentance come too
late,
Then thou art banished
from the sight of heaven;
No
mortal can express
the pains of hell.
It
may be this my exhortation
Seems harsh,
and all unpleasant; let it not,
For, gentle son, I speak it not
in wrath,
Or envy of thee, but in tender love,
And pity of
thy future misery,
And so have hope, that this my kind
rebuke,
Checking thy body, may amend thy soul.
Where
art thou, Faustus?
Wretch, what hast
thou done?
Hell claims his right, and with a roaring voice,
gives
him a dagger.
“Faustus,
come, thine hour is almost
come,”
And Faustus
now will come to do thee right.
MAN
O
stay
good Faustus,
stay
thy desperate
steps.
I
see
an angel hover o’er thy head,
And with a vial full of precious
grace
Offers to pour the same
into thy soul,
Then
call for mercy, and avoid despair.
O
friend, I feel thy words to comfort
my distressed
soul;
Leave
me a while, to ponder on my sins.
MAN
Faustus,
I leave thee, but with grief of heart,
Fearing the enemy of thy
hapless
soul.
Accursed
Faustus,
wretch what hast
thou done?
I
do repent, and yet I do despair;
Hell
strives
with grace for conquest
in my breast:
What
shall
I do to shun
the snares
of death?
Thou
traitor, Faustus,
I arrest
thy soul
For
disobedience
to my sovereign
lord;
Revolt, or I’ll in piece-meal tear thy flesh.
I do repent I e’er offended him;
Sweet
Mephostophilis,
entreat thy lord
To pardon my unjust
presumption,
And
with my blood again I will confirm
The former vow I made to
Lucifer.
Do it then Faustus,
with unfeigned
heart,
Lest
greater dangers do attend thy drift.
Torment,
sweet
friend, that base
and aged
man,
That
durst
dissuade
me from thy Lucifer,
With greatest
torment that our hell affords.
His
faith is great, I cannot touch his soul;
But
what I may afflict his body with
I will attempt, which is but
little worth.
One
thing good servant,
let me crave of thee,
To glut the longing of my heart’s
desire:
That
I might have unto my paramour
That heavenly Helen, which I saw
of late,
Whose
sweet
embraces may extinguish
clear
Those
thoughts that do dissuade
me from my vow,
And keep my vow I made to Lucifer.
This,
or what else
my Faustus
shall
desire,
Shall
be performed in twinkling of an eye.
HELEN again,
passing
over between
two cupids.
Was
this the face that launched a thousand
ships,
And
burnt the topless
towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss:
Her
lips suck
forth my soul,
see
where it flies.
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul
again;
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these
lips,
And all is dross
that is not Helena.
I will be Paris, and for love of
thee
Instead
of Troy shall
Wittenberg be sacked,
And
I will combat with weak Menelaus,
And wear thy colours on my
plumed
crest.
Yea,
I will wound Achilles in the heel,
And
then return to Helen for a kiss.
O
thou art fairer then the evening’s air,
Clad in the beauty of
a thousand
stars:
Brighter
art thou then flaming Jupiter,
When he appeared to hapless
Semele:
More
lovely then the monarch of the sky,
In
wanton Arethusa’s
azure arms,
And
none but thou shalt
be my paramour.
Enter
LUCIFER, BEELZEBUB, and
MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
Thus from infernal Dis do we ascend
To view the
subjects of our monarchy,
Those souls which sin seals the black
sons of hell,
’Mong which, as chief, Faustus we come
to thee,
Bringing with us lasting damnation,
To wait upon
thy soul; the time is come
Which makes it forfeit.
And this gloomy
night,
in this room
will wretched Faustus be.
And here we’ll stay,
To mark him how he doth demean himself.
How should he, but in desperate lunacy.
Fond worldling,
now his heart-blood dries with grief;
His conscience kills it,
and his labouring brain
Begets a world of idle fantasies
To
over-reach the Devil; but all in vain,
His store of pleasures
must be sauced with pain.
He and his servant Wagner are
at hand,
Both come from drawing Faustus’ latest
will.
See where they come.
FAUSTUS and
WAGNER.
Say Wagner, thou hast perused my will,
How dost thou like
it?
Sir, so wondrous well,
in all humble duty, I do yield
My life and lasting service for
your love.
the
SCHOLARS.
Gramercies Wagner. Welcome
gentlemen.
SCHOLAR
Now worthy Faustus: me thinks your looks
are changed.
Oh gentlemen.
SCHOLAR What ails Faustus?
Ah my sweet chamber-fellow, had I lived with thee,
Then
had I lived still, but now must die eternally.
Look
sirs, comes he not, comes he not?
SCHOLAR
O my dear Faustus, what imports this fear?
SCHOLAR
Is all our pleasure turned to melancholy?
SCHOLAR
He is not well with being over solitary.
SCHOLAR If it be so, we’ll have physicians, and Faustus shall
be cured.
SCHOLAR ’Tis but a surfeit sir, fear nothing.
A surfeit of deadly sin, that hath damned both body and soul.
SCHOLAR Yet Faustus look
up to heaven, and remember mercy is infinite.
But Faustus’ offence can ne’er be pardoned,
The
serpent that tempted Eve may be saved,
But
not Faustus. O gentlemen hear with patience, and tremble not at
my speeches, though my heart pant and quiver to remember that I have
been a student here these thirty years. O, would I had never
seen Wittenberg, never read book;
and what wonders I have done, all Germany can witness: yea
all the world, for which Faustus hath lost both Germany and
the world, yea heaven itself: heaven the seat of God, the Throne of
the Blessed, the Kingdom of Joy, and must remain in hell for ever.
Hell, O hell for ever! Sweet friends, what shall become of Faustus,
being in hell forever?
SCHOLAR Yet, Faustus, call on God.
FAUSTUS
On God, whom Faustus hath abjured? On God, whom Faustus hath
blasphemed? O my God, I would weep, but the Devil draws in my tears.
Gush forth blood instead of tears, yea life and soul: oh he stays my
tongue! I would lift up my hands, but see they hold ’em, they hold
’em.
Who, Faustus?
Why, Lucifer and Mephostophilis: O gentlemen,
I
gave them my soul for my cunning.
O God forbid.
FAUSTUS
God forbade it indeed, but Faustus hath done it: for the
vain pleasure of four-and-twenty years hath Faustus lost eternal
joy and felicity. I writ them a bill with mine own blood, the date is
expired: this is the time, and he will fetch mee.
1
SCHOLAR Why did not Faustus tell us of this before, that
divines might have prayed for thee?
FAUSTUS
Oft have I thought to have done so: but the Devil threatened to tear
me in pieces if I named God: to fetch me body and soul, if I once
gave ear to divinity: and now ’ts too late. Gentlemen, away, lest
you perish with me.
SCHOLAR O what may we do to save Faustus?
Talk not of me, but save yourselves and depart.
SCHOLAR God will strengthen me, I will stay with Faustus.
SCHOLAR Tempt not God, sweet friend, but let us into the next room,
and pray for him.
FAUSTUS
Ay, pray for me, pray for me: and what noise soever you hear, come
not unto me, for nothing can rescue me.
2
SCHOLAR Pray thou, and we will pray, that God may have mercy upon
thee.
FAUSTUS
Gentlemen farewell: if I live till morning, I’ll visit you; if not,
Faustus is gone to hell.
ALL
Faustus, farewell.
Exeunt
SCHOLARS.
Ay Faustus, now thou hast no hope of
heaven,
Therefore despair, think only upon hell;
For that
must be thy mansion, there to dwell.
O
thou bewitching fiend, ’twas thy temptation
Hath robbed me of
eternal happiness.
I
do confess it, Faustus, and rejoice;
’Twas I, that when
thou wer’t i’the way to heaven,
Dammed up thy passage; when
thou took’st
the book,
To
view the Scriptures, then I turned the leaves
And led thine
eye.
What, weep’st thou? ’Tis too
late; despair, farewell,
Fools
that will laugh on earth, must weep in hell.
the GOOD
ANGEL, and
the
BAD ANGEL at
several
doors.
ANGEL
Oh Faustus, if thou hadst given ear to
me,
Innumerable joys had followed thee.
But thou didst love
the world.
ANGEL Gave ear to me,
now must taste hell’s pains perpetually.
ANGEL
O what will all thy riches, pleasures, pomps,
Avail
thee now?
ANGEL Nothing but vex thee more,
want in hell, that had on earth such store.
while the throne
descends.
ANGEL
O thou hast lost celestial happiness,
Pleasures
unspeakable, bliss without end.
Hadst thou affected sweet
divinity,
Hell, or the Devil, had had no power on thee.
Hadst
thou kept on that way, Faustus behold,
In what
resplendent glory thou hadst set
In yonder throne, like those
bright shining saints,
And triumphed over hell; that hast thou
lost,
And now poor
soul must thy good angel leave thee;
The jaws of hell are open
to receive thee.
is discovered.
BAD
ANGEL
Now Faustus, let thine eyes with horror
stare
Into that vast perpetual torture-house;
There are the
Furies tossing damned souls
On burning forks: their bodies broil
in lead.
There are live quarters broiling on the coals,
That
ne’er can die: this ever-burning chair,
Is for o’er-tortured
souls to rest them in.
These, that are fed with sops of flaming
fire,
Were gluttons, and loved only delicates,
And laughed
to see the poor
starve at their gates:
But yet all these are nothing; thou shalt
see
Ten thousand tortures that more horrid be.
FAUSTUS
O, I have seen enough to torture me.
BAD
ANGEL
Nay, thou must feel them, taste the smart of all.
He
that loves pleasure, must for pleasure fall:
And so I leave
thee Faustus till anon,
Then wilt thou tumble in
confusion.
Exit.
FAUSTUS
O Faustus
Now hast thou but one bare hour to
live,
And then thou must be damned perpetually.
Stand
still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven,
That time may cease,
and midnight never come.
Fair nature’s eye, rise, rise again
and make
Perpetual day: or let this hour be but a year,
A
month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent,
and save his soul.
O
lente lente currite noctis equi:
The
stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike.
The devil
will come, and Faustus must be damned.
O I’ll leap
up to heaven: who pulls me down?
One drop of blood will save me;
oh my Christ!
Rend not my heart, for naming of my Christ.
Yet
will I call on him. O spare me Lucifer.
Where is it now?
’Tis gone.
And see a threat’ning arm, an angry
brow.
Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me,
And
hide me from the heavy wrath of heaven.
No? Then will I headlong
run into the earth:
Gape earth! O no, it will not harbour
me.
You stars that reigned at my nativity,
Whose influence
hath allotted death and hell;
Now draw up Faustus like
a foggy mist,
Into the entrails of yon labouring cloud,
That
when you vomit forth into the air
My limbs may issue from your
smoky mouths,
But let my soul mount, and ascend to heaven.
The
watch
strikes.
O
half the hour is past: ’twill all be past anon:
O, if my soul
must suffer for my sin,
Impose some end to my incessant
pain:
Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years,
A
hundred thousand, and at last be saved.
No end is limited to
damned
souls.
Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul?
Or why is
this immortal that thou hast?
Oh Pythagoras’
metempsychosis; were that true,
This soul should fly from
me, and I be changed
Into some brutish beast.
All beasts
are happy, for when they die,
Their souls are soon dissolved in
elements,
But mine must live still to be plagued in hell.
Cursed
be the parents that engendered me;
No Faustus, curse
thyself, curse Lucifer,
That hath deprived thee of the joys
of heaven.
The
clock
strikes twelve.
It
strikes, it strikes; now body turn to air,
Or Lucifer will
bear thee quick to hell.
O soul be changed into small water
drops,
And fall into the Ocean ne’er be found.
Thunder,
and enter the devils.
O
mercy heaven, look not so fierce on me;
Adders and serpents, let
me breathe a while:
Ugly hell gape not; come not Lucifer,
I’ll
burn my books; oh Mephostophilis.
Exeunt.
Enter
the
SCHOLARS.
1
SCHOLAR
Come Gentlemen, let us go visit Faustus,
For
such a dreadful night was never seen
Since first the world’s
creation did begin.
Such fearful shrikes, and cries, were never
heard;
Pray heaven the doctor have escaped the danger.
2
SCHOLAR
O help us, heaven; see, here are Faustus’ limbs,
All
torn asunder by the hand of death.
3 SCHOLAR
The
devils whom Faustus served have torn him thus;
For
twixt the hours of twelve and one, methought
I heard him shriek
and call aloud for help:
At which self-time the house seemed all
on fire,
With dreadful horror of these damned
fiends.
2
SCHOLAR
Well, gentlemen, though Faustus’ end be
such
As every Christian heart laments to think on,
Yet for
he was a scholar, once admired
For wondrous knowledge in
our German schools,
We’ll give his mangled limbs due
burial:
And all the students, clothed in mourning black,
Shall
wait upon his heavy funeral.
Exeunt.
Enter
CHORUS.
Cut
is the branch that might have grown full straight,
And burned
is Apollo’s laurel
bough
That
sometime grew within this learned
man.
Faustus is gone; regard his hellish fall,
Whose
fiendful fortune may exhort the wise
Only to wonder at unlawful
things,
Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits
To
practice more than heavenly power permits.
Terminat
hora diem, terminat
Author opus.
FINIS.