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

no more doubts.—Come, Mephistophilis,

And bring glad tidings from great Lucifer;—

Is’t not midnight?—come, Mephistophilis,

Veni, veni, Mephistophile!

Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS.

Now tell me<77> what says Lucifer, thy lord?

MEPHIST. That I shall wait on Faustus whilst he lives,<78>

So he will buy my service with his soul.

FAUSTUS. Already Faustus hath hazarded that for thee.

MEPHIST. But, Faustus, thou must bequeath it solemnly,

And write a deed of gift with thine own blood;

For that security craves great Lucifer.

If thou deny it, I will back to hell.

FAUSTUS. Stay, Mephistophilis, and tell me, what good will my soul

do thy lord?

MEPHIST. Enlarge his kingdom.

FAUSTUS. Is that the reason why<79> he tempts us thus?

MEPHIST. Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris.<80>

FAUSTUS. Why,<81> have you any pain that torture<82> others!

MEPHIST. 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.

FAUSTUS. Ay, Mephistophilis, I give it thee.

MEPHIST. Then, Faustus,<83> stab thine 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.

FAUSTUS. [Stabbing his arm] Lo, Mephistophilis, for love of thee,

I cut mine arm, and with my proper blood

Assure my soul to be great Lucifer’s,

Chief lord and regent of perpetual night!

View here the blood that trickles from mine arm,

And let it be propitious for my wish.

MEPHIST. But, Faustus, thou must

Write it in manner of a deed of gift.

FAUSTUS. Ay, so I will [Writes]. But, Mephistophilis,

My blood congeals, and I can write no more.

MEPHIST. I’ll fetch thee fire to dissolve it straight.

[Exit.]

FAUSTUS. What might the staying of my blood portend?

Is it unwilling I should write this bill?<84>

Why streams it not, that I may write afresh?

FAUSTUS GIVES TO THEE HIS SOUL: ah, there it stay’d!

Why shouldst thou not? is not thy soul shine own?

Then write again, FAUSTUS GIVES TO THEE HIS SOUL.

Re-enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with a chafer of coals.

MEPHIST. Here’s fire; come, Faustus, set it on.<85>

FAUSTUS. So, now the blood begins to clear again;

Now will I make an end immediately.

[Writes.]

MEPHIST. O, what will not I do to obtain his soul?

[Aside.]

FAUSTUS. Consummatum est; this bill is ended,

And Faustus hath bequeath’d his soul to Lucifer.

But what is this inscription<86> on mine arm?

Homo, fuge: whither should I fly?

If unto God, he’ll throw me<87> down to hell.

My senses are deceiv’d; here’s nothing writ:—

I see it plain; here in this place is writ,

Homo, fuge: yet shall not Faustus fly.

MEPHIST. I’ll fetch him somewhat to delight his mind.

[Aside, and then exit.] Re-enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with DEVILS, who give crowns and rich apparel to FAUSTUS, dance, and then depart.

FAUSTUS. Speak, Mephistophilis, what means this show?

MEPHIST. Nothing, Faustus, but to delight thy mind withal,

And to shew thee what magic can perform.

FAUSTUS. But may I raise up spirits when I please?

MEPHIST. Ay, Faustus, and do greater things than these.

FAUSTUS. Then there’s enough for a thousand souls.

Here, Mephistophilis, receive this scroll,

A deed of gift of body and of soul:

But yet conditionally that thou perform

All articles prescrib’d between us both.

MEPHIST. Faustus, I swear by hell and Lucifer

To effect all promises between us made!

FAUSTUS. Then hear me read them. [Reads] ON THESE CONDITIONS

FOLLOWING. FIRST, THAT FAUSTUS MAY BE A SPIRIT IN FORM AND

SUBSTANCE. SECONDLY, THAT MEPHISTOPHILIS SHALL BE HIS SERVANT,

AND AT HIS COMMAND. THIRDLY, THAT MEPHISTOPHILIS SHALL DO FOR HIM,

AND BRING HIM WHATSOEVER HE DESIRES.<88> 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 FORM OR SHAPE

SOEVER HE PLEASE. I, JOHN FAUSTUS, OF WERTENBERG, DOCTOR, BY

THESE PRESENTS, DO GIVE BOTH BODY AND SOUL TO LUCIFER PRINCE OF

THE EAST, AND HIS MINISTER MEPHISTOPHILIS; AND FURTHERMORE GRANT

UNTO THEM, THAT,<89> TWENTY-FOUR YEARS BEING EXPIRED, THE ARTICLES

ABOVE-WRITTEN INVIOLATE, FULL POWER TO FETCH OR CARRY THE SAID

JOHN FAUSTUS, BODY AND SOUL, FLESH, BLOOD, OR GOODS, INTO THEIR

HABITATION WHERESOEVER. BY ME, JOHN FAUSTUS.

MEPHIST. Speak, Faustus, do you deliver this as your deed?

FAUSTUS. Ay, take it, and the devil give thee good on’t!

MEPHIST. Now, Faustus, ask what thou wilt.

FAUSTUS. First will I question with thee about hell.

Tell me, where is the place that men call hell?

MEPHIST. Under the heavens.

FAUSTUS. Ay, but whereabout?

MEPHIST. Within the bowels of these<90> elements,

Where we are tortur’d and remain for ever:

Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib’d

In one self place; for where we are is hell,

And where hell is, there<91> must we ever be:

And, to conclude, when all the world dissolves,

And every creature shall be purified,

All places shall be hell that are<92> not heaven.

FAUSTUS. Come, I think hell’s a fable.

MEPHIST. Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind.

FAUSTUS. Why, think’st thou, then, that Faustus shall be damn’d?

MEPHIST. Ay, of necessity, for here’s the scroll

Wherein thou hast given thy soul to Lucifer.

FAUSTUS. Ay, and body too: but what of that?

Think’st thou that Faustus is so fond<93> to imagine

That, after this life, there is any pain?

Tush, these are trifles and mere old wives’ tales.

MEPHIST. But, Faustus, I am an instance to prove the contrary,

For I am damn’d, and am now in hell.

FAUSTUS. How! now in hell!

Nay, an this be hell, I’ll willingly be damn’d here:

What! walking, disputing, &c.<94>

But, leaving off this, let me have a wife,<95>

The fairest maid in Germany;

For I am wanton and lascivious,

And cannot live without a wife.

MEPHIST. How! a wife!

I prithee, Faustus, talk not of a wife.

FAUSTUS. Nay, sweet Mephistophilis, fetch me one, for I will have

one.

MEPHIST. Well, thou wilt have one? Sit there till I come: I’ll

fetch thee a wife in the devil’s name.

[Exit.] Re-enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with a DEVIL drest like a WOMAN, with fire-works.

MEPHIST. Tell me,<96> Faustus, how dost thou like thy wife?

FAUSTUS. A plague on her for a hot whore!

MEPHIST. Tut, Faustus,

Marriage is but a ceremonial toy;

If thou lovest me, think no<97> more of it.

I’ll cull thee out the fairest courtezans,

And bring them every morning to thy bed:

She whom thine eye shall like, thy heart shall have,

Be she as chaste as was Penelope,

As wise as Saba,<98> or as beautiful

As was bright Lucifer before his fall.

Hold, take this book, peruse it thoroughly:

[Gives book.]

The iterating<99> of these lines brings gold;

The framing of this circle on the ground

Brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder, and lightning;

Pronounce this thrice devoutly to thyself,

And men in armour shall appear to thee,

Ready to execute what thou desir’st.

FAUSTUS. Thanks, Mephistophilis: yet fain would I have a book

wherein I might behold all spells and incantations, that I

might raise up spirits when I please.

MEPHIST. Here they are in this book.

[Turns to them.]

FAUSTUS. Now would I have a book where I might see all characters

and planets of the heavens, that I might know their motions and

dispositions.

MEPHIST. Here they are too.

[Turns to them.]

FAUSTUS. Nay, let me have one book more,—and then I have done,—

wherein I might see all plants, herbs, and trees, that grow upon

the earth.

MEPHIST. Here they be.

FAUSTUS. O, thou art deceived.

MEPHIST. Tut, I warrant thee.

[Turns to them.]

FAUSTUS. When I behold the heavens, then I repent,

And curse thee, wicked Mephistophilis,

Because thou hast depriv’d me of those joys.

MEPHIST. Why, Faustus,

Thinkest thou heaven is such a glorious thing?

I tell thee, ‘tis not half so fair as thou,

Or any man that breathes on earth.

FAUSTUS. How prov’st thou that?

MEPHIST. ‘Twas made for man, therefore is man more excellent.

FAUSTUS. If it were made for man, ‘twas made for me:

I will renounce this magic and repent.

Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL.

GOOD ANGEL. Faustus, repent; yet God will pity thee.

EVIL ANGEL. Thou art a spirit; God cannot pity thee.

FAUSTUS. Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a spirit?

Be I a devil, yet God may pity me;

Ay, God will pity me, if I repent.

EVIL ANGEL. Ay, but Faustus never shall repent.

[Exeunt ANGELS.]

FAUSTUS. My heart’s so harden’d, I cannot repent:

Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven,

But fearful echoes thunder in mine ears,

“Faustus, thou art damn’d!” then swords, and knives,

Poison, guns, halters, and envenom’d steel

Are laid before me to despatch myself;

And long ere this I should have slain myself,

Had not sweet pleasure conquer’d deep despair.

Have not I made blind Homer sing to me

Of Alexander’s love and Oenon’s death?

And hath not he, that built the walls of Thebes

With ravishing sound of his melodious harp,

Made music with my Mephistophilis?

Why should I die, then, or basely despair?

I am resolv’d; Faustus shall ne’er repent.—

Come, Mephistophilis, let us dispute again,

And argue of divine astrology.<100>

Tell me, are there many heavens above the moon

Are all celestial bodies but one globe,

As is the substance of this centric earth?

MEPHIST. As are the elements, such are the spheres,

Mutually folded in each other’s orb,

And, Faustus,

All jointly move upon one axletree,

Whose terminine is term’d the world’s wide pole;

Nor are the names of Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter

Feign’d, but are erring<101> stars.

FAUSTUS. But, tell me, have they all one motion, both situ et

tempore?

MEPHIST. All jointly move from east to west in twenty-four hours

upon the poles of the world; but differ in their motion upon

the poles of the zodiac.

FAUSTUS. Tush,

These slender trifles Wagner can decide:

Hath Mephistophilis no greater skill?

Who knows not the double motion of the planets?

The first is finish’d in a natural day;

The second thus; as Saturn in thirty years; Jupiter in twelve;

Mars in four; the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in a year; the Moon in

twenty-eight days. Tush, these are freshmen’s<102> suppositions.

But, tell me, hath every sphere a dominion or intelligentia?

MEPHIST. Ay.

FAUSTUS. How many heavens or spheres are there?

MEPHIST. Nine; the seven planets, the firmament, and the empyreal

heaven.

FAUSTUS. Well, resolve<103> me in this question; why have we not

conjunctions, oppositions, aspects, eclipses, all at one time,

but in some years we have more, in some less?

MEPHIST. Per inoequalem motum respectu totius.

FAUSTUS. Well, I am answered. Tell me who made the world?

MEPHIST. I will not.

FAUSTUS. Sweet Mephistophilis, tell me.

MEPHIST. Move me not, for I will not tell thee.

FAUSTUS. Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me any thing?

MEPHIST. Ay, that is not against our kingdom; but this is. Think

thou on hell, Faustus, for thou art damned.

FAUSTUS. Think, Faustus, upon God that made the world.

MEPHIST. Remember this.

[Exit.]

FAUSTUS. Ay, go, accursed spirit, to ugly hell!

‘Tis thou hast damn’d distressed Faustus’ soul.

Is’t not too late?

Re-enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL.

EVIL ANGEL. Too late.

GOOD ANGEL. Never too late, if