Enter CHORUS.
CHORUS
Not marching now in fields of Trasimene
Where Mars did mate the Carthaginians,
Nor sporting in the dalliance of love
In courts of kings where state is overturned,
Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds,
Intends our muse to vaunt his heavenly verse.
Only this, gentlemen: we must perform
The form of Faustus’ fortunes, good or bad.
To patient judgements we appeal our plaud,
And speak for Faustus in his infancy.
10 Now is he born, his parents base of stock,
In Germany, within a town called Rhode.
Of riper years to Wittenberg he went,
Whereas his kinsmen chiefly brought him up.
So soon he profits in divinity,
The fruitful plot of scholarism graced,
That shortly he was graced with doctor’s name,
Excelling all whose sweet delight disputes
In heavenly matters of theology,
Till, swoll’n with cunning of a self-conceit,
20 His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And melting heavens conspired his overthrow.
For, falling to a devilish exercise,
And glutted more with learning’s golden gifts,
He surfeits upon cursèd 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.
Exit.
Enter FAUSTUS in his study.
FAUSTUS
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!
[He reads] ‘Bene disserere est finis logices.’
Is to dispute well logic’s chiefest end?
Affords this art no greater miracle?
Then read no more, thou hast attained the end.
10 A greater subject fitteth Faustus’ wit.
Bid On kai me on farewell. Galen, come!
Seeing ubi desinit philosophus, ibi incipit medicus,
Be a physician, Faustus. Heap up gold,
And be eternized for some wondrous cure.
[He reads] ‘Summum bonum medicinae sanitas’:
The end of physic is our body’s health.
Why Faustus, hast thou not attained that end?
Is not thy common talk sound aphorisms?
Are not thy bills hung up as monuments,
20 Whereby whole cities have escaped the plague
And thousand desp’rate maladies been eased?
Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man.
Wouldst thou make man to live eternally,
Or, being dead, raise them to life again,
Then this profession were to be esteemed.
Physic, farewell. Where is Justinian?
[He reads] ‘Si una eademque res legatur duobus,
Alter rem, alter valorem rei’, etc.
30 A pretty case of paltry legacies!
[He reads] ‘Exhaereditare filium non potest pater nisi –’
Such is the subject of the Institute
And universal body of the law,
His 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.
[He reads] ‘Stipendium peccati mors est.’ Ha!
40 ‘Stipendium’, etc.
The reward of sin is death. That’s hard.
[He reads] ‘Si peccasse negamus, fallimur
Et nulla est in nobis veritas.’
If we say that we have no sin,
We deceive ourselves, and there’s 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 serà, serà,
50 What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu!
[He picks up a book of magic.]
These metaphysics of magicians
And necromantic books are heavenly,
Lines, circles, schemes, letters, and characters –
Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.
O, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence
Is promised to the studious artisan!
All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command. Emperors and kings
60 Are but obeyed in their several provinces,
Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds;
But his dominion that exceeds in this
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man.
A sound magician is a mighty god.
Here, Faustus, try thy brains to gain a deity.
Wagner!
Enter WAGNER.
Commend me to my dearest friends,
The German Valdes and Cornelius.
Request them earnestly to visit me.
WAGNER I will, Sir.
Exit [WAGNER].
FAUSTUS
Their conference will be a greater help to me
70 Than all my labours, plod I ne’er so fast.
Enter the GOOD ANGEL and the EVIL ANGEL.
GOOD ANGEL
O Faustus, lay that damnèd 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.
EVIL ANGEL
Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art
Wherein all nature’s treasury is contained.
Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky,
Lord and commander of these elements.
Exeunt [ANGELS].
FAUSTUS
How am I glutted with conceit of this!
80 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
90 And make swift Rhine circle fair Wittenberg.
I’ll have them fill the public schools with silk,
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 our provinces;
Yea, stranger engines for the brunt of war
Than was the fiery keel at Antwerp’s bridge
I’ll make my servile spirits to invent.
100 Come, German Valdes and Cornelius,
And make me blest with your sage conference!
Enter VALDES and CORNELIUS.
Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius,
Know that your words have won me at the last
To practise magic and concealèd arts –
Yet not your words only, but mine own fantasy,
That will receive no object, for my head
But ruminates on necromantic skill.
Philosophy is odious and obscure;
Both law and physic are for petty wits;
110 Divinity is basest of the three,
Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile.
’Tis magic, magic that hath ravished me.
Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt,
And I, that have with concise syllogisms
Gravelled the pastors of the German Church,
And made the flow’ring pride of Wittenberg
Swarm to my problems as the infernal spirits
On sweet Musaeus when he came to hell,
Will be as cunning as Agrippa was,
120 Whose shadows made all Europe honour him.
VALDES
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 subjects of every element
Be always serviceable to us three.
Like lions shall they guard us when we please,
Like Almain 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
130 Than in the white breasts of the Queen of Love.
From Venice shall they drag huge argosies,
And from America the golden fleece
That yearly stuffs old Philip’s treasury,
If learnèd Faustus will be resolute.
FAUSTUS
Valdes, as resolute am I in this
As thou to live. Therefore object it not.
CORNELIUS
The miracles that magic will perform
Will make thee vow to study nothing else.
He that is grounded in astrology,
140 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 –
Ay, all the wealth that our forefathers hid
Within the massy entrails of the earth.
150 Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we three want?
FAUSTUS
Nothing, Cornelius. O, this cheers my soul!
Come, show me some demonstrations magical,
That I may conjure in some lusty grove
And have these joys in full possession.
VALDES
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.
160 Valdes, first let him know the words of art,
And then, all other ceremonies learned,
Faustus may try his cunning by himself.
VALDES
First I’ll instruct thee in the rudiments,
And then wilt thou be perfecter than I.
FAUSTUS
Then come and dine with me, and after meat
We’ll canvass every quaddity there of,
For ere I sleep I’ll try what I can do.
This night I’ll conjure, though I die therefore.
Exeunt.
Enter two SCHOLARS.
FIRST SCHOLAR I wonder what’s become of Faustus, that was wont to make our schools ring with ‘sic probo’.
SECOND SCHOLAR That shall we know, for see, here comes his boy.
Enter WAGNER, [carrying wine].
FIRST SCHOLAR How now, sirrah, where’s thy master?
WAGNER God in heaven knows.
SECOND SCHOLAR Why, dost not thou know?
WAGNER Yes, I know, but that follows not.
FIRST SCHOLAR Go to, sirrah! Leave your jesting, and tell us
10 where he is.
WAGNER That follows not necessary by force of argument
that you, being licentiate, should stand upon’t. Therefore,
acknowledge your error, and be attentive.
SECOND SCHOLAR Why, didst thou not say thou knew’st?
WAGNER Have you any witness on’t?
FIRST SCHOLAR Yes, sirrah, I heard you.
WAGNER Ask my fellow if I be a thief.
SECOND SCHOLAR Well, you will not tell us.
WAGNER Yes, sir, I will tell you. Yet if you were not dunces,
you would never ask me such a question. For is not he corpus
20 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 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, it would
inform your worships. And so the Lord bless you,
30 preserve you, and keep you, my dear brethren, my dear
brethren.
Exit [WAGNER].
FIRST SCHOLAR Nay, then, I fear he is fall’n 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.
40
Exeunt.
Enter FAUSTUS to conjure.
FAUSTUS
Now that the gloomy shadow of the earth,
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,
10 The breviated names of holy saints,
Figures of every adjunct to the heavens,
And characters of signs and erring stars,
By which the spirits are enforced to rise.
Then fear not, Faustus, but be resolute,
And try the uttermost magic can perform.
Sint mihi dei Acherontis propitii! Valeat numen triplex
Jehovae! Ignei, aerii, aquatici, spiritus, salvete! Orientis
princeps, Beelzebub, inferni ardentis monarcha, et
Demogorgon, propitiamus vos, ut appareat et surgat
20 Mephistopheles. Quid tu moraris? Per Jehovam, Gehennam,
et consecratam aquam quam nunc spargo, signumque crucis
quod nunc facio, et per vota nostra, ipse nunc surgat nobis
dicatis Mephistopheles!
[FAUSTUS sprinkles holy water and makes a sign of the cross.]
Enter a DEVIL [MEPHISTOPHELES].
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 DEVIL [MEPHISTOPHELES].
I see there’s virtue in my heavenly words.
Who would not be proficient in this art?
30 How pliant is this Mephistopheles,
Full of obedience and humility!
Such is the force of magic and my spells.
Now, Faustus, thou art conjurer laureate,
That canst command great Mephistopheles.
Quin redis, Mephistopheles, fratris imagine!
Enter MEPHISTOPHELES [dressed as a friar].
MEPHISTOPHELES
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,
40 Or the ocean to overwhelm the world.
MEPHISTOPHELES
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?
MEPHISTOPHELES
No, I came now hither of mine own accord.
FAUSTUS
Did not my conjuring speeches raise thee? Speak.
MEPHISTOPHELES
That was the cause, but yet per accidens.
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,
50 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 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 Beelzebub,
To whom Faustus doth dedicate himself.
This word ‘damnation’ terrifies not him,
60 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?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Arch-regent and commander of all spirits.
FAUSTUS
Was not that Lucifer an angel once?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Yes, Faustus, and most dearly loved of God.
How comes it then that he is prince of devils?
MEPHISTOPHELES
O, by aspiring pride and insolence,
70 For which God threw him from the face of heaven.
FAUSTUS
And what are you that live with Lucifer?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer,
Conspired against our God with Lucifer,
And are for ever damned with Lucifer.
FAUSTUS
Where are you damned?
MEPHISTOPHELES
In hell.
FAUSTUS
How comes it then that thou art out of hell?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it.
Think’st thou that I, who saw the face of God
80 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 strike a terror to my fainting soul!
FAUSTUS
What, is great Mephistopheles so passionate
For being deprivèd 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:
90 Seeing Faustus hath incurred eternal death
By desp’rate 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 aid my friends,
And always be obedient to my will.
Go and return to mighty Lucifer,
100 And meet me in my study at midnight,
And then resolve me of thy master’s mind.
MEPHISTOPHELES I will, Faustus.
Exit [MEPHISTOPHELES].
FAUSTUS
Had I as many souls as there be stars,
I’d give them all for Mephistopheles.
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 Afric shore
And make that land continent to Spain,
110 And both contributory to my crown.
The emperor shall not live but by my leave,
Nor any potentate of Germany.
Now that I have obtained what I desire,
I’ll live in speculation of this art
Till Mephistopheles return again.
Exit
Enter WAGNER and [ROBIN the Clown.
WAGNER Sirrah boy, come hither.
ROBIN How, ‘boy’? ’Swounds, ‘boy’! I hope you have seen many boys with such pickedevants as I have. ‘Boy’, quotha?
WAGNER Tell me, sirrah, hast thou any comings in?
ROBIN 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.
10 ROBIN How? My soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton, though’t were blood raw? Not so, good friend. By’r Lady, 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?
ROBIN How, in verse?
WAGNER No, sirrah, in beaten silk and stavesacre.
ROBIN How, how, knave’s acre? [Aside] Aye, I thought that
was all the land his father left him. [To WAGNER] Do ye hear?
20 I would be sorry to rob you of your living.
WAGNER Sirrah, I say in stavesacre.
ROBIN Oho, oho, ‘stavesacre’! Why then, belike, if I were your man, I should be full of vermin.
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, and they shall tear thee in pieces.
ROBIN Do you hear, sir? You may save that labour. They are
too familiar with me already. ’Swounds, they are as bold with
30 my flesh as if they had paid for my meat and drink.
WAGNER Well, do you hear, sirrah? [Offering money] Hold, take these guilders.
ROBIN Gridirons? What be they?
WAGNER Why, French crowns.
ROBIN 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.
40 ROBIN No, no, here, take your gridirons again.
[He hands him the money.]
WAGNER Truly, I’ll none of them.
ROBIN Truly, but you shall.
WAGNER [to the audience] Bear witness I gave them him.
ROBIN Bear witness I give them you again.
WAGNER Well, I will cause two devils presently to fetch thee away. Balioll and Belcher!
ROBIN Let your Balio 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? He has killed the devil.’
50 So I should be called ‘Kill devil’ all the parish over.
Enter two DEVILS, and [ROBIN] the Clown runs up and down crying.
WAGNER Balioll and Belcher! Spirits, away!
Exeunt [DEVILS].
ROBIN What, are they gone? A vengeance on them! They have
vile 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 clefts and cloven feet.
WAGNER Well, sirrah, follow me.
ROBIN 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 anything, to a dog,
60 or a cat, or a mouse, or a rat, or anything.
ROBIN How? A Christian fellow to a dog or a cat, a mouse or
a rat? No, no, sir. If you turn me into anything, let it be in the
likeness of a little, pretty, frisking flea, that I may be here
and there and everywhere. O, I’ll tickle the pretty wenches’
plackets! I’ll be amongst them, i’faith!
WAGNER Well, sirrah, come.
ROBIN But do you hear, Wagner?
WAGNER How? Balioll and Belcher!
ROBIN O Lord, I pray sir, let Banio and Belcher go sleep.
70
WAGNER Villain, call me Master Wagner, and let thy left eye be
diametarily fixed upon my right heel, with quasi vestigiis
nostris insistere.
Exit [WAGNER].
ROBIN God forgive me, he speaks Dutch fustian. Well, I’ll follow him, I’ll serve him, that’s flat.
Exit.
Enter FAUSTUS in his study.
FAUSTUS
Now, Faustus, must thou needs be damned,
And canst thou not be saved.
What boots it then to think of God or heaven?
Away with such vain fancies and despair!
Despair in God and trust in Beelzebub.
Now go not backward. No, Faustus, be resolute.
Why waverest thou? O, something soundeth in mine ears:
‘Abjure this magic, turn to God again!’
Ay, and Faustus will turn to God again.
10 To God? He loves thee not.
The god thou servest 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.
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 makes men foolish that do trust them most.
GOOD ANGEL
20 Sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things.
EVIL ANGEL
No, Faustus, think of honour and wealth.
Exeunt [ANGELS].
FAUSTUS
Of wealth?
Why, the seigniory of Emden shall be mine.
When Mephistopheles shall stand by me,
What god can hurt thee, Faustus? Thou art safe,
Cast no more doubts. Come, Mephistopheles,
And bring glad tidings from great Lucifer.
Is’t not midnight? Come, Mephistopheles!
Veni, veni, Mephistophile!
Enter MEPHISTOPHELES.
30 Now tell, what says Lucifer thy lord?
MEPHISTOPHELES
That I shall wait on Faustus whilst he lives,
So he will buy my service with his soul.
FAUSTUS
Already Faustus hath hazarded that for thee.
MEPHISTOPHELES
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, Mephistopheles, and tell me, what good will my soul do thy lord?
MEPHISTOPHELES Enlarge his kingdom.
40
FAUSTUS Is that the reason he tempts us thus?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris.
FAUSTUS
Have you any pain, that tortures others?
MEPHISTOPHELES
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, Mephistopheles, I give it thee.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Then stab thine arm courageously,
And bind thy soul that at some certain day
50 Great Lucifer may claim it as his own,
And then be thou as great as Lucifer.
Lo, Mephistopheles, 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.
MEPHISTOPHELES But Faustus, thou must write it in manner
60 of a deed of gift.
FAUSTUS
Ay, so I will. [He writes.] But Mephistopheles,
My blood congeals, and I can write no more.
MEPHISTOPHELES
I’ll fetch thee fire to dissolve it straight.
Exit [MEPHISTOPHELES].
FAUSTUS
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’ – ah, there it stayed!
Why shouldst thou not? Is not thy soul thine own?
Then write again: ‘Faustus gives to thee his soul.’
Enter MEPHISTOPHELES with a chafer of coals.
MEPHISTOPHELES
70 Here’s fire. Come Faustus, set it on.
FAUSTUS
So. Now the blood begins to clear again.
Now will I make an end immediately. [He writes.]
MEPHISTOPHELES [aside]
O, what will not I do to obtain his soul?
FAUSTUS
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 God, he’ll throw thee down to hell.
My senses are deceived; here’s nothing writ.
80 I see it plain. Here in this place is writ
‘Homo, fuge!’ Yet shall not Faustus fly.
MEPHISTOPHELES [aside]
I’ll fetch him somewhat to delight his mind.
Exit [MEPHISTOPHELES, then re-]enter with DEVILS,
giving crowns and rich apparel to FAUSTUS, and dance
and then depart.
FAUSTUS
Speak, Mephistopheles. What means this show?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Nothing, Faustus, but to delight thy mind withal
And to show thee what magic can perform.
FAUSTUS
But may I raise up spirits when I please?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Ay, Faustus, and do greater things than these.
FAUSTUS
Then there’s enough for a thousand souls.
Here, Mephistopheles, receive this scroll,
A deed of gift of body and of soul –
90 But yet conditionally that thou perform
All articles prescribed between us both.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Faustus, I swear by hell and Lucifer
To effect all promises between us made.
FAUSTUS Then hear me read them.
‘On these conditions following:
First, that Faustus may be a spirit in form and substance.
Secondly, that Mephistopheles shall be his servant, and at his command.
Thirdly, that Mephistopheles shall do for him and bring
100 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 form or shape 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 Mephistopheles, and furthermore grant unto
them that, four-and-twenty years being expired, the articles
above written inviolate, full power to fetch or carry the said
110 John Faustus, body and soul, flesh, blood, or goods, into their
habitation wheresoever.
By me, John Faustus.’
MEPHISTOPHELES Speak, Faustus. Do you deliver this as your deed?
FAUSTUS [giving the deed] Ay. Take it, and the devil give thee good on’t.
MEPHISTOPHELES 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?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Under the heavens.
120 FAUSTUS Ay, but whereabout?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Within the bowels of these elements,
Where we are tortured and remain for ever.
Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed
In one self place, for where we are is hell,
And where hell is must we ever be.
And, to conclude, when all the world dissolves,
And every creature shall be purified,
All places shall be hell that is not heaven.
FAUSTUS Come, I think hell’s a fable.
MEPHISTOPHELES
130 Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind.
FAUSTUS
Why, think’st thou then that Faustus shall be damned?
MEPHISTOPHELES
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
To imagine that after this life there is any pain?
Tush, these are trifles and mere old wives’ tales.
But, Faustus, I am an instance to prove the contrary,
For I am damnèd and am now in hell.
FAUSTUS How? Now in hell? Nay, an this be hell, I’ll willingly
140 be damned here. What? Walking, disputing, etc.? But leaving
off this, let me have a wife, the fairest maid in Germany, for
I am wanton and lascivious and cannot live without a wife.
MEPHISTOPHELES How, a wife? I prithee, Faustus, talk not of a wife.
FAUSTUS Nay, sweet Mephistopheles, fetch me one, for I will have one.
MEPHISTOPHELES Well, thou wilt have one. Sit there till I come. I’ll fetch thee a wife, in the devil’s name.
[Exit MEPHISTOPHELES, then re-]enter with a DEVIL dressed like a woman, with fireworks.
MEPHISTOPHELES Tell, Faustus, how dost thou like thy wife?
150
FAUSTUS A plague on her for a hot whore!
MEPHISTOPHELES Tut, Faustus, marriage is but a ceremonial toy.
If thou lovest me, think no more of it.
[Exit DEVIL.]
I’ll cull thee out the fairest courtesans
And bring them ev’ry 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, or as beautiful
As was bright Lucifer before his fall.
[Presenting a book]
Hold, take this book. Peruse it thoroughly.
160 The iterating 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, Mephistopheles. Yet fain would I have a book wherein I might behold all spells and incantations, that I might raise up spirits when I please.
170 MEPHISTOPHELES Here they are in this book. (There turn 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.
MEPHISTOPHELES Here they are too. (Turn 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.
MEPHISTOPHELES Here they be.
FAUSTUS O, thou art deceived.
180 MEPHISTOPHELES Tut, I warrant thee. (Turn to them)
[Exeunt.]
Enter ROBIN the ostler with a book in his hand.
ROBIN O, this is admirable! Here I ha’ stol’n one of Doctor Faustus’ conjuring books, and, i’faith, I mean to search some circles for my own use. Now will I make all the maidens in our parish dance at my pleasure stark naked before me, and so by that means I shall see more than e’er I felt or saw yet.
Enter RAFE, calling ROBIN.
RAFE Robin, prithee, come away. There a gentleman tarries to have his horse, and he would have his things rubbed and made clean; he keeps such a chafing with my mistress about it, and she has sent me to look thee out. Prithee, come away.
10 ROBIN Keep out, keep out, or else you are blown up, you are dismembered, Rafe! Keep out, for I am about a roaring piece of work.
RAFE Come, what dost thou with that same book? Thou canst not read.
ROBIN Yes, my master and mistress shall find that I can read – he for his forehead, she for her private study. She’s born to bear with me, or else my art fails.
RAFE Why, Robin, what book is that?
ROBIN What book? Why the most intolerable book for conjuring
that e’er was invented by any brimstone devil.
20
RAFE Canst thou conjure with it?
ROBIN I can do all these things easily with it: first, I can make thee drunk with hippocras at any tavern in Europe for nothing. That’s one of my conjuring works.
RAFE Our Master Parson says that’s nothing.
ROBIN True, Rafe, and more, Rafe, if thou hast any mind to Nan Spit, our kitchen maid, then turn her and wind her to thy own use as often as thou wilt, and at midnight.
RAFE O brave Robin! Shall I have Nan Spit, and to mine own
use? On that condition I’ll feed thy devil with horse-bread as
30 long as he lives, of free cost.
ROBIN No more, sweet Rafe. Let’s go and make clean our boots, which lie foul upon our hands, and then to our conjuring, in the devil’s name.
Exeunt.
[Enter FAUSTUS in his study, and MEPHISTOPHELES.]
FAUSTUS
When I behold the heavens, then I repent
And curse thee, wicked Mephistopheles,
Because thou hast deprived me of those joys.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Why Faustus,
Think’st 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 provest thou that?
MEPHISTOPHELES
It was made for man, therefore is man more excellent.
FAUSTUS
If it were made for man, ’twas made for me.
10 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 hardened I cannot repent.
Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven,
20 But fearful echoes thunders in mine ears:
‘Faustus, thou art damned!’ Then swords and knives,
Poison, guns, halters, and envenomed steel
Are laid before me to dispatch myself;
And long ere this I should have slain myself
Had not sweet pleasure conquered deep despair.
Have not I made blind Homer sing to me
Of Alexander’s love and Oenone’s death?
And hath not he that built the walls of Thebes
With ravishing sound of his melodious harp
30 Made music with my Mephistopheles?
Why should I die, then, or basely despair?
I am resolved Faustus shall ne’er repent.
Come, Mephistopheles, let us dispute again
And argue of divine astrology.
Tell me, are there many heavens above the moon?
Are all celestial bodies but one globe,
As is the substance of this centric earth?
MEPHISTOPHELES
As are the elements, such are the spheres,
Mutually folded in each other’s orb;
40 And, Faustus, all jointly move upon one axletree,
Whose terminine is termed the world’s wide pole.
Nor are the names of Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter
Feigned, but are erring stars.
FAUSTUS But tell me, have they all one motion, both situ et tempore?
MEPHISTOPHELES All jointly move from east to west in four-and-twenty 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 Mephistopheles no greater skill?
50 Who knows not the double motion of the planets?
The first is finished 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 suppositions. But tell me, hath every sphere a
dominion or intelligentia?.
MEPHISTOPHELES Ay.
FAUSTUS How many heavens or spheres are there?
MEPHISTOPHELES Nine: the seven planets, the firmament, and
60 the empyreal heaven.
FAUSTUS Well, resolve 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?
MEPHISTOPHELES Per inaequalem motum respectu totius.
FAUSTUS Well, I am answered. Tell me who made the world.
MEPHISTOPHELES I will not.
FAUSTUS Sweet Mephistopheles, tell me.
MEPHISTOPHELES Move me not, for I will not tell thee.
FAUSTUS Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me anything?
70
MEPHISTOPHELES 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.
MEPHISTOPHELES Remember this.
Exit [MEPHISTOPHELES].
FAUSTUS
Ay, go, accursèd spirit, to ugly hell!
’Tis thou hast damned distressèd Faustus’ soul.
Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL [ANGEL].
EVIL ANGEL
Too late.
GOOD ANGEL
Never too late, if Faustus can repent.
EVIL ANGEL
80 If thou repent, devils shall tear thee in pieces.
GOOD ANGEL
Repent, and they shall never raze thy skin.
Exeunt [ANGELS].
FAUSTUS
Ah, Christ, my Saviour,
Seek to save distressèd Faustus’ soul!
Enter LUCIFER, BEELZEBUB, and MEPHISTOPHELES.
LUCIFER
Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just.
There’s none but I have int’rest in the same.
FAUSTUS
O, who art thou that look’st so terrible?
LUCIFER
I am Lucifer,
And this is my companion prince in hell.
FAUSTUS
O Faustus, they are come to fetch away thy soul!
LUCIFER
90 We come to tell thee thou dost injure us.
Thou talk’st of Christ, contrary to thy promise.
Thou shouldst not think of God. Think of the devil,
And of his dame, too.
FAUSTUS
Nor will I henceforth. Pardon me in this,
And Faustus vows never to look to heaven,
Never to name God or to pray to him,
To burn his Scriptures, slay his ministers,
And make my spirits pull his churches down.
LUCIFER
Do so, and we will highly gratify thee.
Faustus, we are come from hell to show thee some pastime.
100 Sit down, and thou shalt see all the Seven Deadly Sins appear in their proper shapes.
FAUSTUS That sight will be as pleasing unto me as paradise was to Adam, the first day of his creation.
LUCIFER Talk not of paradise nor creation, but mark this show.
Talk of the devil, and nothing else. Come away!
Enter the SEVEN DEADLY SINS.
Now, Faustus, examine them of their several names and dispositions.
FAUSTUS What art thou, the first?
PRIDE I am Pride. I disdain to have any parents. I am like to
110 Ovid’s flea: I can creep into every corner of a wench. Sometimes
like a periwig I sit upon her brow, or like a fan of
feathers I kiss her lips. Indeed I do. What do I not? But fie,
what a scent is here! I’ll not speak another word except the
ground were perfumed and covered with cloth of arras.
FAUSTUS What art thou, the second?
COVETOUSNESS I am Covetousness, begotten of an old churl
in an old leathern bag; and might I have my wish, I would
desire that this house and all the people in it were turned
to gold, that I might lock you up in my good chest. O my
120 sweet gold!
FAUSTUS What art thou, the third?
WRATH I am Wrath. I had neither father nor mother. I leaped out of a lion’s mouth when I was scarce half an hour old, and ever since I have run up and down the world with this case of rapiers, wounding myself when I had nobody to fight withal. I was born in hell, and look to it, for some of you shall be my father.
FAUSTUS What art thou, the fourth?
ENVY I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-
130 wife. I cannot read, and therefore wish all books were
burnt. I am lean with seeing others eat. O, that there
would come a famine through all the world, that all might
die, and I live alone! Then thou shouldst see how fat I would
be. But must thou sit and I stand? Come down, with a vengeance!
FAUSTUS Away, envious rascal! What art thou, the fifth?
GLUTTONY Who, I, sir? I am Gluttony. My parents are all dead,
and the devil a penny they have left me but a bare pension,
140 and that is thirty meals a day, and ten bevers – a small
trifle to suffice nature. O, I come of a royal parentage. My
grandfather was a gammon of bacon, my grandmother a
hogshead of claret wine. My godfathers were these: Peter
Pickle-herring and Martin Martlemas-beef. O, but my godmother,
she was a jolly gentlewoman, and well beloved in
every good town and city; her name was Mistress Margery
March-beer. Now, Faustus, thou hast heard all my progeny,
wilt thou bid me to supper?
FAUSTUS No, I’ll see thee hanged. Thou wilt eat up all my
150 victuals.
GLUTTONY Then the devil choke thee!
FAUSTUS Choke thyself, glutton! What art thou, the sixth?
SLOTH I am Sloth. I was begotten on a sunny bank, where I have lain ever since, and you have done me great injury to bring me from thence. Let me be carried thither again by Gluttony and Lechery. I’ll not speak another word for a king’s ransom.
FAUSTUS What are you, Mistress Minx, the seventh and last?
LECHERY Who, I, sir? I am one that loves an inch of raw mutton
160 better than an ell of fried stockfish, and the first letter of my
name begins with Lechery.
LUCIFER Away, to hell, to hell!
Exeunt the SINS.
Now, Faustus, how dost thou like this?
FAUSTUS O, this feeds my soul!
LUCIFER Tut, Faustus, in hell is all manner of delight.
FAUSTUS O, might I see hell and return again, how happy were I then!
LUCIFER Thou shalt. I will send for thee at midnight. [Presenting
a book] In meantime, take this book, peruse it throughly, and
170 thou shalt turn thyself into what shape thou wilt.
FAUSTUS [taking the book] Great thanks, mighty Lucifer. This will I keep as chary as my life.
LUCIFER Farewell, Faustus, and think on the devil.
FAUSTUS Farewell, great Lucifer. Come, Mephistopheles.
Exeunt.
[Chorus 2]
Enter WAGNER alone.
WAGNER
Learnèd 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 yoky 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
10 That to this day is highly solemnized.
Exit WAGNER.
Enter FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHELES.
FAUSTUS
Having now, my good Mephistopheles,
Passed with delight the stately town of Trier,
Environed round with airy mountain tops,
With walls of flint and deep entrenchèd lakes,
Not to be won by any conquering prince;
From Paris next, coasting the realm of France,
We saw the river Maine fall into Rhine,
Whose banks are set with groves of fruitful vines.
Then up to Naples, rich Campania,
10 Whose buildings, fair and gorgeous to the eye,
The streets straight forth and paved with finest brick,
Quarters the town in four equivalents,
There saw we learnèd Maro’s golden tomb,
The way he cut an English mile in length
Thorough a rock of stone in one night’s space.
From thence to Venice, Padua, and the rest,
In midst of which a sumptuous temple stands
That threats the stars with her aspiring top.
Thus hitherto hath Faustus spent his time.
20 But tell me now, what resting place is this?
Hast thou, as erst I did command,
Conducted me within the walls of Rome?
MEPHISTOPHELES Faustus, I have; and because we will not be unprovided, I have taken up his holiness’ privy chamber for our use.
FAUSTUS I hope his holiness will bid us welcome.
MEPHISTOPHELES Tut, ’tis no matter, man, we’ll be bold with his good cheer.
And now, my Faustus, that thou mayst perceive
30 What Rome containeth to delight thee with,
Know that this city stands upon seven hills
That underprops the groundwork of the same.
Just through the midst runs flowing Tiber’s stream,
With winding banks that cut it in two parts,
Over the which four stately bridges lean,
That makes safe passage to each part of Rome.
Upon the bridge called Ponte Angelo
Erected is a castle passing strong,
Within whose walls such store of ordnance are,
40 And double cannons, framed of carvèd brass,
As match the days within one complete year,
Besides the gates and high pyramides
Which Julius Caesar brought from Africa.
FAUSTUS
Now, by the kingdoms of infernal rule,
Of Styx, Acheron, and the fiery lake
Of ever-burning Phlegethon, I swear
That I do long to see the monuments
And situation of bright splendent Rome.
Come, therefore, let’s away!
MEPHISTOPHELES
Nay, Faustus, stay. I know you’d fain see the Pope
50 And take some part of holy Peter’s feast,
Where thou shalt see a troupe of bald-pate friars
Whose summum bonum is in belly cheer.
FAUSTUS
Well, I am content to compass then some sport,
And by their folly make us merriment.
Then charm me that I may be invisible, to do what I please unseen of any whilst I stay in Rome.
MEPHISTOPHELES So, Faustus, now do what thou wilt, thou shalt not be discerned.
Sound a sennet. Enter the POPE and the CARDINAL OF LORRAINE to the banquet, with FRIARS attending.
POPE My lord of Lorraine, will’t please you draw near?
60
FAUSTUS Fall to, and the devil choke you an you spare.
POPE How now, who’s that which spake? Friars, look about.
FRIAR Here’s nobody, if it like your holiness.
POPE [presenting a dish] My lord, here is a dainty dish was sent me from the bishop of Milan.
FAUSTUS I thank you, sir. (Snatch it)
POPE How now, who’s that which snatched the meat from me?
Will no man look? My lord, this dish was sent me from the cardinal of Florence.
FAUSTUS [snatching the dish] You say true. I’ll ha’t.
70
POPE What, again? My lord, I’ll drink to your grace.
FAUSTUS [snatching the cup] I’ll pledge your grace.
LORRAINE My lord, it may be some ghost, newly crept out of purgatory, come to beg a pardon of your holiness.
POPE It may be so. Friars, prepare a dirge to lay the fury of this ghost. Once again, my lord, fall to.
The POPE crosseth himself.
FAUSTUS
What, are you crossing of yourself?
Well, use that trick no more, I would advise you.
[The POPE] cross [es himself] again.
Well, there’s a second time. Aware the third,
80 I give you fair warning.
[The POPE] cross [es himself] again, and FAUSTUS hits him a box of the ear, and they all [except FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHELES] run away.
Come on, Mephistopheles, what shall we do?
MEPHISTOPHELES Nay, I know not. We shall be cursed with bell, book, and candle.
FAUSTUS
How? Bell, book, and candle, candle, book, and bell,
Forward and backward, to curse Faustus to hell.
Anon you shall hear a hog grunt, a calf bleat, and an ass bray,
Because it is Saint Peter’s holy day.
Enter all the FRIARS to sing the dirge.
FRIAR
Come, brethren, let’s about our business with good devotion.
[The FRIARS] sing this.
Cursèd be he that stole away his holiness’ meat from the table.
Cursèd be he that struck his holiness a blow on the face.
Maledicat Dominus.
Cursèd be he that took Friar Sandelo a blow on the pate.
Maledicat Dominus.
Cursèd be he that disturbeth our holy dirge.
Maledicat Dominus.
Cursèd be he that took away his holiness’ wine.
Maledicat Dominus.
Et omnes sancti. Amen.
[FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHELES] beat the FRIARS, and fling fireworks among them, and so exeunt.
Enter ROBIN [with a conjuring book] and RAFE with a silver goblet.
ROBIN Come, Rafe, did not I tell thee we were for ever made by this Doctor Faustus’ book? Ecce signum! Here’s a simple purchase for horse-keepers. Our horses shall eat no hay as long as this lasts.
Enter the VINTNER.
RAFE But Robin, here comes the vintner.
ROBIN Hush, I’ll gull him supernaturally. Drawer, I hope all is paid. God be with you. Come, Rafe.
[They start to leave.]
VINTNER [to ROBIN] Soft, sir, a word with you. I must yet have a goblet paid from you ere you go.
ROBIN I, a goblet? Rafe, I, a goblet? I scorn you, and you are
10 but a etc. I, a goblet? Search me.
VINTNER I mean so, sir, with your favour.
[The VINTNER searches ROBIN.]
ROBIN How say you now?
VINTNER I must say somewhat to your fellow – you, sir.
RAFE Me, sir? Me, sir? Search your fill.
[He passes the goblet to ROBIN; the VINTNER searches RAFE.]
Now, sir, you may be ashamed to burden honest men with a matter of truth.
VINTNER Well, t’one of you hath this goblet about you.
ROBIN You lie, drawer, ’tis afore me. Sirrah, you, I’ll teach ye
to impeach honest men. Stand by. I’ll scour you for a goblet.
20 Stand aside, you had best, I charge you in the name of
Beelzebub.
[He passes the goblet to RAFE.]
Look to the goblet, Rafe.
VINTNER What mean you, sirrah?
ROBIN I’ll tell you what I mean. (He reads.)
‘Sanctobulorum Periphrasticon!’ Nay, I’ll tickle you, vintner.
Look to the goblet, Rafe. ‘Polypragmos Belseborams framanto pacostiphos tostu Mephistopheles!’ etc.
Enter MEPHISTOPHELES, [who] sets squibs at their backs; they run about. [Exit MEPHISTOPHELES.]
VINTNER O, nomine Domine! What mean’st thou, Robin? Thou
30 hast no goblet.
Enter to them MEPHISTOPHELES.
RAFE Peccatum peccatorum! Here’s thy goblet, good vintner.
ROBIN Misericordia pro nobis! What shall we do? Good devil, forgive me now, I’ll never rob thy library more.
MEPHISTOPHELES Vanish, villains! Th’one like an ape, another like a bear, the third an ass, for doing this enterprise.
[Exit VINTNER.]
Monarch of hell, under whose black survey
Great potentates do kneel with awful fear,
Upon whose altars thousand souls do lie,
How am I vexèd with these villains’ charms!
40 From Constantinople am I hither come
Only for pleasure of these damnèd slaves.
ROBIN How, from Constantinople? You have had a great journey. Will you take sixpence in your purse to pay for your supper and be gone?
MEPHISTOPHELES Well, villains, for your presumption I transform thee [to ROBIN] into an ape and thee [to RAFE] into a dog. And so, begone!
Exit [MEPHISTOPHELES].
ROBIN How, into an ape? That’s brave. I’ll have fine sport with the boys; I’ll get nuts and apples enow.
50 RAFE And I must be a dog.
ROBIN I’faith, thy head will never be out of the pottage pot.
Exeunt.
Enter CHORUS.
CHORUS
When Faustus had with pleasure ta’en the view
Of rarest things and royal courts of kings,
He stayed his course and so returnèd home,
Where such as bear his absence but with grief –
I mean his friends and nearest companions –
Did gratulate his safety with kind words.
And in their conference of what befell,
Touching his journey through the world and air,
They put forth questions of astrology,
Which Faustus answered with such learnèd skill
10 As they admired and wondered at his wit.
Now is his fame spread forth in every land;
Amongst the rest the emperor is one,
Carolus the Fifth, at whose palace now
Faustus is feasted ’mongst his noblemen.
What there he did in trial of his art
I leave untold, your eyes shall see performed.
Exit.
Enter EMPEROR [OF GERMANY], FAUSTUS, [MEPHISTOPHELES,] and a KNIGHT, with ATTENDANTS.
EMPEROR Master Doctor Faustus, I have heard strange report
of thy knowledge in the black art – how that none in my
empire, nor in the whole world, can compare with thee for
the rare effects of magic. They say thou hast a familiar spirit by
whom thou canst accomplish what thou list. This, therefore, is
my request: that thou let me see some proof of thy skill, that
mine eyes may be witnesses to confirm what mine ears have
heard reported; and here I swear to thee, by the honour of
mine imperial crown, that whatever thou dost, thou shalt be
10 no ways prejudiced or endamaged.
KNIGHT (aside) I’faith, he looks much like a conjurer.
FAUSTUS My gracious sovereign, though I must confess myself far inferior to the report men have published, and nothing answerable to the honour of your imperial majesty, yet, for that love and duty binds me thereunto, I am content to do whatsoever your majesty shall command me.
EMPEROR
Then, Doctor Faustus, mark what I shall say.
As I was sometime solitary set
Within my closet, sundry thoughts arose
20 About the honour of mine ancestors,
How they had won by prowess such exploits,
Got such riches, subdued so many kingdoms
As we that do succeed or they that shall
Hereafter possess our throne shall,
I fear me, never attain to that degree
Of high renown and great authority.
Amongst which kings is Alexander the Great,
Chief spectacle of the world’s pre-eminence,
The bright shining of whose glorious acts
30 Lightens the world with his reflecting beams,
As when I hear but motion made of him,
It grieves my soul I never saw the man.
If, therefore, thou by cunning of thine art
Canst raise this man from hollow vaults below
Where lies entombed this famous conqueror,
And bring with him his beauteous paramour,
Both in their right shapes, gesture, and attire
They used to wear during their time of life,
Thou shalt both satisfy my just desire
40 And give me cause to praise thee whilst I live.
FAUSTUS My gracious lord, I am ready to accomplish your request, so far forth as by art and power of my spirit I am able to perform.
KNIGHT (aside) I’faith, that’s just nothing at all.
FAUSTUS But if it like your grace, it is not in my ability to present before your eyes the true substantial bodies of those two deceased princes, which long since are consumed to dust.
KNIGHT (aside) Ay, marry, Master Doctor, now there’s a sign of grace in you, when you will confess the truth.
FAUSTUS But such spirits as can lively resemble Alexander and
50 his paramour shall appear before your grace in that manner
that they best lived in, in their most flourishing estate, which
I doubt not shall sufficiently content your imperial majesty.
EMPEROR Go to, Master Doctor. Let me see them presently.
KNIGHT Do you hear, Master Doctor? You bring Alexander and his paramour before the emperor?
FAUSTUS How then, sir?
KNIGHT I’faith, that’s as true as Diana turned me to a stag.
FAUSTUS No, sir, but when Actaeon died, he left the horns for you.
60
[Aside to MEPHISTOPHELES] Mephistopheles, begone!
Exit MEPHISTOPHELES.
KNIGHT Nay, an you go to conjuring, I’ll be gone.
Exit KNIGHT.
FAUSTUS [aside] I’ll meet with you anon for interrupting me so.
Here they are, my gracious lord.
Enter MEPHISTOPHELES with ALEXANDER and his PARAMOUR.
EMPEROR Master Doctor, I heard this lady while she lived had a wart or mole in her neck. How shall I know whether it be so or no?
FAUSTUS Your highness may boldly go and see.
[The EMPEROR examines them, and then] exeunt ALEXANDER [and his PARAMOUR].
EMPEROR Sure these are no spirits, but the true substantial bodies of those two deceased princes.
70
FAUSTUS Will’t please your highness now to send for the knight that was so pleasant with me here of late?
EMPEROR One of you call him forth.
[An ATTENDANT leaves to summon the KNIGHT.]
Enter the KNIGHT with a pair of horns on his head.
How now, sir knight? Why, I had thought thou hadst been
a bachelor, but now I see thou hast a wife, that not only
gives thee horns, but makes thee wear them. Feel on thy
head.
KNIGHT [to FAUSTUS]
Thou damnèd wretch and execrable dog,
Bred in the concave of some monstrous rock,
80 How dar’st thou thus abuse a gentleman?
Villain, I say, undo what thou hast done.
FAUSTUS
O, not so fast, sir. There’s no haste but good.
Are you remembered how you crossed me in my conference
with the emperor? I think I have met with you for it.
EMPEROR Good Master Doctor, at my entreaty release him. He hath done penance sufficient.
FAUSTUS My gracious lord, not so much for the injury he
offered me here in your presence, as to delight you with some
mirth, hath Faustus worthily requited this injurious knight;
90 which being all I desire, I am content to release him of
his horns; and, sir knight, hereafter speak well of scholars.
[Aside to MEPHISTOPHELES] Mephistopheles, transform him
straight. [The horns are removed.] Now, my good lord, having
done my duty, I humbly take my leave.
EMPEROR
Farewell, Master Doctor. Yet, ere you go,
Expect from me a bounteous reward.
Exeunt EMPEROR [, KNIGHT and ATTENDANTS].
FAUSTUS
Now, Mephistopheles, the restless course
That time doth run with calm and silent foot,
Short’ning my days and thread of vital life,
100 Calls for the payment of my latest years.
Therefore, sweet Mephistopheles, let us make haste
To Wittenberg.
MEPHISTOPHELES
What, will you go on horseback or on foot?
FAUSTUS
Nay, till I am past this fair and pleasant green,
I’ll walk on foot.
Enter [to them] a HORSE-COURSER.
HORSE-COURSER I have been all this day seeking one Master Fustian. Mass, see where he is. God save you, Master Doctor.
FAUSTUS What, Horse-courser! You are well met.
HORSE-COURSER [offering money] Do you hear, sir? I have brought you forty dollars for your horse.
FAUSTUS I cannot sell him so. If thou lik’st him for fifty, take him.
HORSE-COURSER Alas, sir, I have no more. [To MEPHISTOPHELES] I pray you, speak for me.
MEPHISTOPHELES [to FAUSTUS] I pray you, let him have him;
10 he is an honest fellow, and he has a great charge, neither wife
nor child.
FAUSTUS Well, come, give me your money. [He takes the money.] My boy will deliver him to you. But I must tell you one thing before you have him: ride him not into the water, at any hand.
HORSE-COURSER Why, sir, will he not drink of all waters?
FAUSTUS O, yes, he will drink of all waters. But ride him not into the water. Ride him over hedge, or ditch, or where thou wilt, but not into the water.
HORSE-COURSER Well, sir. [Aside] Now am I made man for
20 ever. I’ll not leave my horse for forty. If he had but the quality
of hey, ding, ding, hey, ding, ding, I’d make a brave living on
him; he has a buttock as slick as an eel. [To FAUSTUS] Well,
goodbye, sir. Your boy will deliver him me? But hark ye, sir,
if my horse be sick or ill at ease, if I bring his water to you,
you’ll tell me what it is?
FAUSTUS Away, you villain! What, dost think I am a horse-doctor?
Exit HORSE-COURSER.
What art thou, Faustus, but a man condemned to die?
Thy fatal time doth draw to final end.
30 Despair doth drive distrust unto 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.
[FAUSTUS] sleep[s] in his chair.
Enter HORSE-COURSER all wet, crying.
HORSE-COURSER Alas, alas! ‘Doctor’ Fustian, quotha! Mass,
Doctor Lopus was never such a doctor. H’as given me a
purgation, h’as purged me of forty dollars. I shall never see
them more. But yet, like an ass as I was, I would not be ruled
by him, for he bade me I should ride him into no water. Now
40 I, thinking my horse had had some rare quality that he would
not have had me known of, I, like a venturous youth, rid him
into the deep pond at the town’s end. I was no sooner in the
middle of the pond, but my horse vanished away and I sat
upon a bottle of hay, never so near drowning in my life. But
I’ll seek out my doctor and have my forty dollars again, or I’ll
make it the dearest horse! O, yonder is his snipper-snapper.
Do you hear? You, hey-pass, where’s your master?
MEPHISTOPHELES Why, sir, what would you? You cannot speak with him.
50 HORSE-COURSER But I will speak with him.
MEPHISTOPHELES Why, he’s fast asleep. Come some other time.
HORSE-COURSER I’ll speak with him now, or I’ll break his glass windows about his ears.
MEPHISTOPHELES I tell thee he has not slept this eight nights.
HORSE-COURSER An he have not slept this eight weeks, I’ll speak with him.
MEPHISTOPHELES See where he is, fast asleep.
HORSE-COURSER Ay, this is he. God save ye, Master Doctor.
60 Master Doctor, Master Doctor Fustian! Forty dollars, forty
dollars for a bottle of hay!
MEPHISTOPHELES Why, thou seest he hears thee not.
HORSE-COURSER (holler in his ear) So-ho, ho! So-ho, ho! No, will you not wake? I’ll make you wake ere I go.
[The HORSE-COURSER] pull[s] him by the leg, and pull[s] it away.
Alas, I am undone! What shall I do?
FAUSTUS O my leg, my leg! Help, Mephistopheles! Call the officers! My leg, my leg!
MEPHISTOPHELES Come, villain, to the constable.
HORSE-COURSER O Lord, sir, let me go, and I’ll give you forty dollars more.
70
MEPHISTOPHELES Where be they?
HORSE-COURSER I have none about me. Come to my hostry, and I’ll give them you.
MEPHISTOPHELES Begone, quickly.
HORSE-COURSER runs away.
FAUSTUS What, is he gone? Farewell, he! Faustus has his leg again, and the horse-courser, I take it, a bottle of hay for his labour. Well, this trick shall cost him forty dollars more.
Enter WAGNER.
How now, Wagner, what’s the news with thee?
WAGNER Sir, the duke of Vanholt doth earnestly entreat your
80 company.
FAUSTUS The duke of Vanholt! An honourable gentleman, to whom I must be no niggard of my cunning. Come, Mephistopheles, let’s away to him.
Exeunt.
[Enter FAUSTUS with MEPHISTOPHELES.] Enter to them the DUKE [OF VANHOLT] and the DUCHESS. The DUKE speaks.
DUKE Believe me, Master Doctor, this merriment hath much pleased me.
FAUSTUS My gracious lord, I am glad it contents you so well. But it may be, madam, you take no delight in this. I have heard that great-bellied women do long for some dainties or other. What is it, madam? Tell me, and you shall have it.
DUCHESS Thanks, good Master Doctor. And, for I see your
courteous intent to pleasure me, I will not hide from you the
thing my heart desires; and were it now summer, as it is
10 January and the dead time of the winter, I would desire no
better meat than a dish of ripe grapes.
FAUSTUS Alas, madam, that’s nothing. [Aside to MEPHISTOPHELES] Mephistopheles, begone!
Exit MEPHISTOPHELES.
Were it a greater thing than this, so it would content you, you should have it.
Enter MEPHISTOPHELES with the grapes.
Here they be, madam. Will’t please you taste on them?
[The DUCHESS tastes the grapes.]
DUKE Believe me, Master Doctor, this makes me wonder above
the rest, that, being in the dead time of winter and in the
20 month of January, how you should come by these grapes.
FAUSTUS If it like your grace, the year is divided into two circles over the whole world, that when it is here winter with us, in the contrary circle it is summer with them, as in India, Saba, and farther countries in the East; and by means of a swift spirit that I have, I had them brought hither, as ye see. How do you like them, madam? Be they good?
DUCHESS Believe me, Master Doctor, they be the best grapes that e’er I tasted in my life before.
FAUSTUS
I am glad they content you so, madam.
DUKE
30 Come, madam, let us in,
Where you must well reward this learnèd man
For the great kindness he hath showed to you.
DUCHESS
And so I will, my lord, and whilst I live
Rest beholding for this courtesy.
FAUSTUS I humbly thank your grace.
DUKE Come, Master Doctor, follow us and receive your reward.
Exeunt.
Enter WAGNER alone.
WAGNER
I think my master means to die shortly,
For he hath given to me all his goods.
And yet methinks, if that death were near,
He would not banquet and carouse and swill
Amongst the students, as even now he doth,
Who are at supper with such belly-cheer
As Wagner ne’er beheld in all his life.
See where they come. Belike the feast is ended.
[Exit WAGNER.]
Enter FAUSTUS with two or three SCHOLARS [and MEPHISTOPHELES].
FIRST SCHOLAR Master Doctor Faustus, since our conference
about fair ladies – which was the beautifull’st in all the world
10 – we have determined with ourselves that Helen of Greece
was the admirablest lady that ever lived. Therefore, Master
Doctor, if you will do us that 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.
FAUSTUS
Gentlemen,
For that I know your friendship is unfeigned,
And Faustus’ custom is not to deny
The just requests of those that wish him well,
You shall behold that peerless dame of Greece,
20 No otherways for pomp and majesty
Than when Sir Paris crossed the seas with her
And brought the spoils to rich Dardania.
Be silent then, for danger is in words.
Music sounds and HELEN passeth over the stage.
SECOND SCHOLAR
Too simple is my wit to tell her praise,
Whom all the world admires for majesty.
No marvel though the angry Greeks pursued
With ten years’ war the rape of such a queen,
Whose heavenly beauty passeth all compare.
FIRST SCHOLAR
30 Since we have seen the pride of nature’s works
And only paragon of excellence,
Enter an OLD MAN.
Let us depart, and for this glorious deed
Happy and blest be Faustus evermore.
FAUSTUS
Gentlemen, farewell. The same I wish to you.
Exeunt SCHOLARS.
OLD MAN
Ah, Doctor Faustus, that I might prevail
To guide thy steps unto the way of life,
By which sweet path thou mayst attain the goal
That shall conduct thee to celestial rest!
Break heart, drop blood, and mingle it with tears,
40 Tears falling from repentant heaviness
Of thy most vile and loathsome filthiness,
The stench whereof corrupts the inward soul
With such flagitious crimes of heinous sins,
As no commiseration may expel
But mercy, Faustus, of thy Saviour sweet,
Whose blood alone must wash away thy guilt.
FAUSTUS
Where art thou, Faustus? Wretch, what hast thou done?
Damned art thou, Faustus, damned! Despair and die!
Hell calls for right, and with a roaring voice
50 Says, ‘Faustus, come! Thine hour is come.’
MEPHISTOPHELES gives him a dagger.
And Faustus will come to do thee right.
[FAUSTUS prepares to stab himself.]
OLD MAN
Ah, stay, good Faustus, stay thy desperate steps!
I see an angel hovers 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.
FAUSTUS
Ah, my sweet friend, I feel thy words
To comfort my distressèd soul.
Leave me a while to ponder on my sins.
OLD MAN
I go, sweet Faustus, but with heavy cheer,
60 Fearing the ruin of thy hopeless soul.
[Exit the OLD MAN.]
FAUSTUS
Accursèd Faustus, where is mercy now?
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?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Thou traitor, Faustus, I arrest thy soul
For disobedience to my sovereign lord.
Revolt, or I’ll in piecemeal tear thy flesh.
FAUSTUS
Sweet Mephistopheles, entreat thy lord
To pardon my unjust presumption,
70 And with my blood again I will confirm
My former vow I made to Lucifer.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Do it then quickly, with unfeignèd heart,
Lest greater danger do attend thy drift.
[FAUSTUS cuts his arm and writes with his blood.]
FAUSTUS
Torment, sweet friend, that base and crooked age
That durst dissuade me from thy Lucifer,
With greatest torments that our hell affords.
MEPHISTOPHELES
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.
80
FAUSTUS
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 embracings may extinguish clean
These thoughts that do dissuade me from my vow,
And keep mine oath I made to Lucifer.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Faustus, this, or what else thou shalt desire,
Shall be performed in twinkling of an eye.
Enter HELEN.
FAUSTUS
90 Was this the face that launched a thousand ships
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
[They kiss.]
Her lips sucks forth my soul. See where it flies!
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
[They kiss again.]
Here will I dwell, for heaven be in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
Enter OLD MAN.
I will be Paris, and for love of thee
Instead of Troy shall Wittenberg be sacked,
And I will combat with weak Menelaus,
100 And wear thy colours on my plumèd crest.
Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel
And then return to Helen for a kiss.
O, thou art fairer than the evening air,
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars.
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter
When he appeared to hapless Semele,
More lovely than the monarch of the sky
In wanton Arethusa’s azured arms;
And none but thou shalt be my paramour.
Exeunt [FAUSTUS and HELEN, with MEPHISTOPHELES].
OLD MAN
110 Accursèd Faustus, miserable man,
That from thy soul exclud’st the grace of heaven
And fliest the throne of His tribunal seat!
Satan begins to sift me with his pride.
As in this furnace God shall try my faith,
My faith, vile hell, shall triumph over thee.
Ambitious fiends, see how the heavens smiles
At your repulse and laughs your state to scorn!
Hence, hell! For hence I fly unto my God.
Exeunt.
Enter FAUSTUS with the SCHOLARS.
FAUSTUS Ah, gentlemen!
FIRST SCHOLAR What ails Faustus?
FAUSTUS Ah, my sweet chamber-fellow! Had I lived with thee, then had I lived still, but now I die eternally. Look, comes he not? Comes he not?
[The SCHOLARS speak among themselves.]
SECOND SCHOLAR What means Faustus?
THIRD SCHOLAR Belike he is grown into some sickness by being over-solitary.
FIRST SCHOLAR If it be so, we’ll have physicians to cure him. [To FAUSTUS] ’Tis but a surfeit. Never fear, man.
10
FAUSTUS A surfeit of deadly sin that hath damned both body and soul.
SECOND SCHOLAR Yet, Faustus, look up to heaven. Remember God’s mercies are infinite.
FAUSTUS But Faustus’ offence can ne’er be pardoned. The serpent
that tempted Eve may be saved, but not Faustus. Ah,
gentlemen, hear me with patience, and tremble not at my
speeches. Though my heart pants and quivers to remember
that I have been a student here these thirty years, O, would I
had never seen Wittenberg, never read book! And what
20 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, ah, hell for ever! Sweet friends, what shall
become of Faustus, being in hell for ever?
THIRD SCHOLAR Yet, Faustus, call on God.
FAUSTUS On God, whom Faustus hath abjured? On God, whom
Faustus hath blasphemed? Ah, my God, I would weep, but
30 the devil draws in my tears. Gush forth blood instead of tears,
yea, life and soul. O, he stays my tongue! I would lift up my
hands, but see, they hold them, they hold them.
ALL Who, Faustus?
FAUSTUS Lucifer and Mephistopheles. Ah, gentlemen! I gave them my soul for my cunning.
ALL God forbid!
FAUSTUS God forbade it indeed, but Faustus hath done it.
For vain pleasure of four-and-twenty years hath Faustus lost
eternal joy and felicity. I writ them a bill with mine own
40 blood. The date is expired, the time will come, and he will
fetch me.
FIRST 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 both body and soul if I once gave ear to divinity. And now ‘tis too late. Gentlemen, away, lest you perish with me.
SECOND SCHOLAR O, what shall we do to save Faustus?
FAUSTUS Talk not of me, but save yourselves and depart.
50 THIRD SCHOLAR God will strengthen me. I will stay with Faustus.
FIRST SCHOLAR [to the THIRD SCHOLAR] Tempt not God, sweet friend, but let us into the next room and there pray for him.
FAUSTUS Ay, pray for me, pray for me! And what noise soever ye hear, come not unto me, for nothing can rescue me.
SECOND 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
60 you; if not, Faustus is gone to hell.
Exeunt SCHOLARS.
The clock strikes eleven.
FAUSTUS
Ah, 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!
70 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 my God! Who pulls me down?
See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament!
One drop would save my soul, half a drop. Ah, my Christ!
Ah, 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 where God
Stretcheth out his arm and bends his ireful brows!
80 Mountains and hills, come, come and fall on me,
And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!
No, no!
Then will I headlong run into the earth.
Earth, gape! 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,
90 My limbs may issue from your smoky mouths,
So that my soul may but ascend to heaven.
The watch strikes.
Ah, half the hour is past!
’Twill all be past anon.
If thou wilt not have mercy on my soul,
Yet for Christ’s sake, whose blood hath ransomed me,
Impose some end to my incessant pain.
Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years,
100 A hundred thousand, and at last be saved.
O, no end is limited to damnèd souls.
Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul?
Or why is this immortal that thou hast?
Ah, Pythagoras’ metempsychosis, were that true,
This soul should fly from me and I be changed
Unto 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.
110 Curst be the parents that engendered me!
No, Faustus, curse thyself. Curse Lucifer,
That hath deprived thee of the joys of heaven.
The clock striketh twelve.
O, it strikes, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air,
Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell.
Thunder and lightning.
O soul, be changed into little waterdrops,
And fall into the ocean, ne’er be found!
My God, my God, look not so fierce on me!
Enter [LUCIFER, MEPHISTOPHELES, and other] DEVILS.
Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while!
Ugly hell, gape not. Come not, Lucifer!
120 I’ll burn my books. Ah, Mephistopheles!
[The DEVILS] exeunt with him.