The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (best contemporary novels .TXT) 📖

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<46> inform your worships: and so, the Lord bless you,

preserve you, and keep you, my dear brethren, my dear brethren!<47>

[Exit.]

FIRST SCHOLAR. Nay, then, I fear he is fallen into that damned art

for which they two are infamous through the world.

SECOND SCHOLAR. Were he a stranger, and not allied to me, yet should

I grieve for him. But, come, let us go and inform the Rector,

and see if he by his grave counsel can reclaim him.

FIRST SCHOLAR. O, but I fear me nothing can reclaim him!

SECOND SCHOLAR. Yet let us try what we can do.

[Exeunt.] Enter FAUSTUS to conjure.<48>

FAUSTUS. Now that the gloomy shadow of the earth,

Longing to view Orion’s drizzling look,

Leaps from th’ antartic 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 pray’d and sacrific’d to them.

Within this circle is Jehovah’s name,

Forward and backward anagrammatiz’d,<49>

Th’ abbreviated<50> names of holy saints,

Figures of every adjunct to the heavens,

And characters of signs and erring<51> stars,

By which the spirits are enforc’d to rise:

Then fear not, Faustus, but be resolute,

And try the uttermost magic can perform.—

Sint mihi dei Acherontis propitii! Valeat numen triplex Jehovoe!

Ignei, aerii, aquatani spiritus, salvete! Orientis princeps

Belzebub, inferni ardentis monarcha, et Demogorgon, propitiamus

vos, ut appareat et surgat Mephistophilis, quod tumeraris:<52>

per Jehovam, Gehennam, et consecratam aquam quam nunc spargo,

signumque crucis quod nunc facio, et per vota nostra, ipse nunc

surgat nobis dicatus<53> Mephistophilis!

Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS.

I 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.

[Exit MEPHISTOPHILIS.]

I see there’s virtue in my heavenly words:

Who would not be proficient in this art?

How pliant is this Mephistophilis,

Full of obedience and humility!

Such is the force of magic and my spells:

No, Faustus, thou art conjuror laureat,

That canst command great Mephistophilis:

Quin regis Mephistophilis fratris imagine.

Re-enter MEPHISTOPHILIS like a Franciscan friar.<54>

MEPHIST. Now, Faustus, what wouldst thou have me do?

FAUSTUS. 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.

MEPHIST. I am a servant to great Lucifer,

And may not follow thee without his leave:

No more than he commands must we perform.

FAUSTUS. Did not he charge thee to appear to me?

MEPHIST. No, I came hither<55> of mine own accord.

FAUSTUS. Did not my conjuring speeches raise thee? speak.

MEPHIST. That was the cause, but yet per accidens;<56>

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 damn’d.

Therefore the shortest cut for conjuring

Is stoutly to abjure the Trinity,

And pray devoutly to the prince of hell.

FAUSTUS. So Faustus hath

Already done; and holds this principle,

There is no chief but only Belzebub;

To whom Faustus doth dedicate himself.

This word “damnation” terrifies not him,

For he confounds hell in Elysium:

His ghost be with the old philosophers!

But, leaving these vain trifles of men’s souls,

Tell me what is that Lucifer thy lord?

MEPHIST. Arch-regent and commander of all spirits.

FAUSTUS. Was not that Lucifer an angel once?

MEPHIST. Yes, Faustus, and most dearly lov’d of God.

FAUSTUS. How comes it, then, that he is prince of devils?

MEPHIST. O, by aspiring pride and insolence;

For which God threw him from the face of heaven.

FAUSTUS. And what are you that live with Lucifer?

MEPHIST. Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer,

Conspir’d against our God with Lucifer,

And are for ever damn’d with Lucifer.

FAUSTUS. Where are you damn’d?

MEPHIST. In hell.

FAUSTUS. How comes it, then, that thou art out of hell?

MEPHIST. Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it:<57>

Think’st thou that I, who saw the face of God,

And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,

Am not tormented with ten thousand hells,

In being depriv’d of everlasting bliss?

O, Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,

Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!

FAUSTUS. What, is great Mephistophilis 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<58> tidings to great Lucifer:

Seeing Faustus hath incurr’d eternal death

By desperate thoughts against Jove’s<59> deity,

Say, he surrenders up to him his soul,

So he will spare him four and twenty<60> 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 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<61> me of thy master’s mind.

MEPHIST. I will, Faustus.

[Exit.]

FAUSTUS. Had I as many souls as there be stars,

I’d give them all for Mephistophilis.

By him I’ll be great emperor of the world,

And make a bridge thorough<62> the moving air,

To pass the ocean with a band of men;

I’ll join the hills that bind the Afric shore,

And make that country<63> continent to Spain,

And both contributory to my crown:

The Emperor shall not live but by my leave,

Nor any potentate of Germany.

Now that I have obtain’d what I desir’d,<64>

I’ll live in speculation of this art,

Till Mephistophilis return again.

[Exit.] Enter WAGNER<65> and CLOWN.

WAGNER. Sirrah boy, come hither.

CLOWN. How, boy! swowns, boy! I hope you have seen many boys

with such pickadevaunts<66> as I have: boy, quotha!

WAGNER. Tell me, sirrah, hast thou any comings in?

CLOWN. Ay, and goings out too; you may see else.

WAGNER. Alas, poor slave! see how poverty jesteth in his nakedness!

the villain is bare and 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. How! my soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton, though

‘twere blood-raw! not so, good friend: by’r lady,<67> I had need

have it well roasted, and good sauce to it, if I pay so dear.

WAGNER. Well, wilt thou serve me, and I’ll make thee go like

Qui mihi discipulus?<68>

CLOWN. How, in verse?

WAGNER. No, sirrah; in beaten silk and staves-acre.<69>

CLOWN. How, how, knaves-acre! ay, I thought that was all the land

his father left him. Do you hear? I would be sorry to rob you of

your living.

WAGNER. Sirrah, I say in staves-acre.

CLOWN. Oho, oho, staves-acre! why, then, belike, if I were your

man, I should be full of vermin.<70>

WAGNER. So thou shalt, whether thou beest with me or no. But,

sirrah, leave your jesting, and bind yourself presently unto me

for seven years, or I’ll turn all the lice about thee into

familiars,<71> and they shall tear thee in pieces.

CLOWN. Do you hear, sir? you may save that labour; they are too

familiar with me already: swowns, they are as bold with my flesh

as if they had paid for their<72> meat and drink.

WAGNER. Well, do you hear, sirrah? hold, take these guilders.

[Gives money.]

CLOWN. Gridirons! what be they?

WAGNER. Why, French crowns.

CLOWN. Mass, but for the name of French crowns, a man were as good

have as many English counters. And what should I do with these?

WAGNER. Why, now, sirrah, thou art at an hour’s warning, whensoever

or wheresoever the devil shall fetch thee.

CLOWN. No, no; here, take your gridirons again.

WAGNER. Truly, I’ll none of them.

CLOWN. Truly, but you shall.

WAGNER. Bear witness I gave them him.

CLOWN. Bear witness I give them you again.

WAGNER. Well, I will cause two devils presently to fetch thee

away.—Baliol and Belcher!

CLOWN. Let your Baliol and your Belcher come here, and I’ll

knock them, they were never so knocked since they were devils:

say I should kill one of them, what would folks say? “Do ye see

yonder tall fellow in the round slop?<73> he has killed the devil.”

So I should be called Kill-devil all the parish over.

Enter two DEVILS; and the CLOWN runs up and down crying.

WAGNER. Baliol and Belcher,—spirits, away!

[Exeunt DEVILS.]

CLOWN. What, are they gone? a vengeance on them! they have vile<74>

long nails. There was a he-devil and a she-devil: I’ll tell you

how you shall know them; all he-devils has horns, and all

she-devils has clifts and cloven feet.

WAGNER. Well, sirrah, follow me.

CLOWN. But, do you hear? if I should serve you, would you teach

me to raise up Banios and Belcheos?

WAGNER. I will teach thee to turn thyself to any thing, to a dog,

or a cat, or a mouse, or a rat, or any thing.

CLOWN. How! a Christian fellow to a dog, or a cat, a mouse,

or a rat! no, no, sir; if you turn me into any thing, let it be

in the likeness of a little pretty frisking flea, that I may be

here and there and every where: O, I’ll tickle the pretty wenches’

plackets! I’ll be amongst them, i’faith.

WAGNER. Well, sirrah, come.

CLOWN. But, do you hear, Wagner?

WAGNER. How!—Baliol and Belcher!

CLOWN. O Lord! I pray, sir, let Banio and Belcher go sleep.

WAGNER. Villain, call me Master Wagner, and let thy left eye be

diametarily fixed upon my right heel, with quasi vestigiis

nostris<75> insistere.

[Exit.]

CLOWN. God forgive me, he speaks Dutch fustian. Well, I’ll follow

him; I’ll serve him, that’s flat.

[Exit.] FAUSTUS discovered in his study.

FAUSTUS. Now, Faustus, must

Thou needs be damn’d, and canst thou not be sav’d:

What boots it, then, to think of God or heaven?

Away with such vain fancies, and despair;

Despair in God, and trust in Belzebub:

Now go not backward; no, Faustus, be resolute:

Why waver’st thou? O, something soundeth in mine ears,

“Abjure this magic, turn to God again!”

Ay, and Faustus will turn to God again.

To God? he loves thee not;

The god thou serv’st is thine own appetite,

Wherein is fix’d the love of Belzebub:

To him I’ll build an altar and a church,

And offer lukewarm blood of new-born babes.

Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL.

GOOD ANGEL. Sweet Faustus, leave that execrable art.

FAUSTUS. Contrition, prayer, repentance—what of them?

GOOD ANGEL. O, they are means to bring thee unto heaven!

EVIL ANGEL. Rather illusions, fruits of lunacy,

That make men foolish that do trust them most.

GOOD ANGEL. Sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things.

EVIL ANGEL. No, Faustus; think of honour and of<76> wealth.

[Exeunt ANGELS.]

FAUSTUS. Of wealth!

Why, the signiory of Embden shall be mine.

When Mephistophilis shall stand by me,

What god can hurt thee, Faustus? thou art safe

Cast