Act II, Scene ii
 Enter FAUSTUS, in his study, and MEPHISTOPHILIS. |
| FAUSTUS. When I behold the heavens,<69> then I repent, |
| And curse thee, wicked Mephistophilis, |
| Because thou hast depriv'd me of those joys. |
| MEPHIST. 'Twas thine<70> own seeking, Faustus; thank thyself. |
| But, think'st thou heaven is<71> such a glorious thing? |
| I tell thee, Faustus, it is not half so fair |
| As thou, or any man that breathes<72> on earth. |
| FAUSTUS. How prov'st thou that? |
| MEPHIST. 'Twas made for man; then he's more excellent. |
| FAUSTUS. If heaven was made for man, 'twas made for me: |
| I will renounce this magic and repent. |
| Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL.: |
| GOOD ANGEL. Faustus, repent; yet God will pity thee. |
| EVIL ANGEL. Thou art a spirit; God cannot pity thee. |
| FAUSTUS. Who buzzeth in mine ears<73> I am a spirit? |
| Be I a devil, yet God may pity me; |
| Yea, God will pity me, if I repent. |
| EVIL ANGEL. Ay, but Faustus never shall repent. |
|
[Exeunt ANGELS.]
|
| FAUSTUS. My heart is harden'd, I cannot repent; |
| Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven: |
| Swords, poisons, halters, and envenom'd steel |
| Are laid before me to despatch myself; |
| And long ere this I<74> should have done the deed, |
| Had not sweet pleasure conquer'd deep despair. |
| Have not I made blind Homer sing to me |
| Of Alexander's love and Oenon's death? |
| And hath not he, that built the walls of Thebes |
| With ravishing sound of his melodious harp, |
| Made music with my Mephistophilis? |
| Why should I die, then, or basely despair? |
| I am resolv'd; Faustus shall not repent.— |
| Come, Mephistophilis, let us dispute again, |
| And reason of divine astrology. |
| Speak, are there many spheres above the moon? |
| Are all celestial bodies but one globe, |
| As is the substance of this centric earth? |
| MEPHIST. As are the elements, such are the heavens, |
| Even from the moon unto th' empyreal orb, |
| Mutually folded in each other's spheres, |
| And jointly move upon one axletree, |
| Whose termine<75> is term'd the world's wide pole; |
| Nor are the names of Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter |
| Feign'd, but are erring<76> stars. |
| FAUSTUS. But have they all one motion, both situ et tempore? |
| MEPHIST. All move from east to west in four-and-twenty |
| hours upon the poles of the world; but differ in their motions |
| upon the poles of the zodiac. |
| FAUSTUS. These slender questions Wagner can decide: |
| Hath Mephistophilis no greater skill? |
| Who knows not the double motion<77> of the planets? |
| That the first is finish'd in a natural day; |
| The second thus; Saturn in thirty years; Jupiter in twelve; |
| Mars in four; the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in a year; the Moon |
| in twenty-eight days. These are freshmen's questions. But |
| tell me, hath every sphere a dominion or intelligentia? |
| MEPHIST. Ay. |
| FAUSTUS. How many heavens or spheres are there? |
| MEPHIST. Nine; the seven planets, the firmament, and the empyreal |
| heaven. |
| FAUSTUS. But is there not coelum igneum et crystallinum? |
| MEPHIST. No, Faustus, they be but fables. |
| FAUSTUS. Resolve me, then, in this one question; why are not |
| conjunctions, oppositions, aspects, eclipses, all at one time, |
| but in some years we have more, in some less? |
| MEPHIST. Per inoequalem motum respectu totius. |
| FAUSTUS. Well, I am answered. Now tell me who made the world? |
| MEPHIST. I will not. |
| FAUSTUS. Sweet Mephistophilis, tell me. |
| MEPHIST. Move me not, Faustus. |
| FAUSTUS. Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me any thing? |
| MEPHIST. Ay,<78> that is not against our kingdom; this is. |
| Thou art damned; think thou of hell. |
| FAUSTUS. Think, Faustus, upon God that made the world. |
| MEPHIST. Remember this. |
|
[Exit.]
|
| FAUSTUS. Ay, go, accursed spirit, to ugly hell! |
| 'Tis thou hast damn'd distressed Faustus' soul. |
| Is't not too late? |
| Re-enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL.: |
| EVIL ANGEL. Too late. |
| GOOD ANGEL. Never too late, if Faustus will repent. |
| EVIL ANGEL. If thou repent, devils will tear thee in pieces. |
| GOOD ANGEL. Repent, and they shall never raze thy skin. |
|
[Exeunt ANGELS.]
|
| FAUSTUS. O Christ, my Saviour, my Saviour |
| Help to save distressed Faustus' soul! |
| Enter LUCIFER, BELZEBUB, and MEPHISTOPHILIS. |
| LUCIFER. Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just: |
| There's none but I have interest in the same. |
| FAUSTUS. O, what art thou that look'st so terribly? |
| LUCIFER. I am Lucifer, |
| And this is my companion-prince in hell. |
| FAUSTUS. O Faustus, they are come to fetch thy soul! |
| BELZEBUB. We are come to tell thee thou dost injure us. |
| LUCIFER. Thou call'st of Christ, contrary to thy promise. |
| BELZEBUB. Thou shouldst not think on God. |
| LUCIFER. Think of the devil. |
| BELZEBUB. And his dam too. |
| FAUSTUS. Nor will Faustus henceforth: pardon him for this, |
| And Faustus vows never to look to heaven. |
| LUCIFER. So shalt thou shew thyself an obedient servant, |
| And we will highly gratify thee for it. |
| BELZEBUB. Faustus, we are come from hell in person to shew thee |
| some pastime: sit down, and thou shalt behold the Seven Deadly |
| Sins appear to thee in their own proper shapes and likeness. |
| FAUSTUS. That sight will be as pleasant unto me, |
| As Paradise was to Adam the first day |
| Of his creation. |
| LUCIFER. Talk not of Paradise or creation; but mark the show.— |
| Go, Mephistophilis, and<79> fetch them in. |
| MEPHISTOPHILIS brings in the SEVEN DEADLY SINS.: |
| BELZEBUB. Now, Faustus, question them of their names and |
| dispositions. |
| FAUSTUS. That shall I soon.—What art thou, the<80> first? |
| PRIDE. I am Pride. I disdain to have any parents. I am like to |
| Ovid's flea; I can creep into every corner of a wench; sometimes, |
| like a perriwig, I sit upon her brow; next, like a necklace, I hang |
| about her neck; then, like a fan of feathers, I kiss her lips;<81> |
| and then, turning myself to a wrought smock, do what I list. |
| But, fie, what a smell is here! I'll not speak a word more for |
| a king's ransom, unless the ground be perfumed, and covered with |
| cloth of arras. |
| FAUSTUS. Thou art a proud knave, indeed.—What art thou, the second? |
| COVETOUSNESS. I am Covetousness, begotten of an old churl, in a |
| leather bag: and, might I now obtain my wish, this house, you, |
| and all, should turn to gold, that I might lock you safe into |
| my chest: O my sweet gold! |
| FAUSTUS. And what art thou, the third? |
| ENVY. I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. |
| I cannot read, and therefore wish all books burned. I am lean |
| with seeing others eat. O, that there would come a famine over |
| all the world, that all might die, and I live alone! then thou |
| shouldst see how fat I'd be. But must thou sit, and I stand? |
| come down, with a vengeance! |
| FAUSTUS. Out, envious wretch!—But what art thou, the fourth? |
| WRATH. I am Wrath. I had neither father nor mother: I leapt |
| out of a lion's mouth when I was scarce an hour old; and ever |
| since have run<82> up and down the world with this<83> case of |
| rapiers, wounding myself when I could get none to fight withal. |
| I was born in hell; and look to it, for some of you shall be my |
| father. |
| FAUSTUS. And what art thou, the fifth? |
| GLUTTONY. I am Gluttony. My parents are all dead, and the devil |
| a penny they have left me, but a small pension, and that buys me |
| thirty meals a-day and ten bevers,—a small trifle to suffice |
| nature. I come<84> of a royal pedigree: my father was a Gammon |
| of Bacon, my mother was a Hogshead of Claret-wine; my godfathers |
| were these, Peter Pickled-herring and Martin Martlemas-beef; but |
| my godmother, O, she was an ancient gentlewoman; her name was |
| Margery March-beer. Now, Faustus, thou hast heard all my progeny; |
| wilt thou bid me to supper? |
| FAUSTUS. Not I. |
| GLUTTONY. Then the devil choke thee! |
| FAUSTUS. Choke thyself, glutton!—What art thou, the sixth? |
| SLOTH. Heigho! I am Sloth. I was begotten on a sunny bank. |
| Heigho! I'll not speak a word more for a king's ransom. |
| FAUSTUS. And what are you, Mistress Minx, the seventh and last? |
| LECHERY. Who, I,<85> sir? I am one that loves an inch of raw |
| mutton better than an ell of fried stock-fish; and the first |
| letter of my name begins with L.<86> |
| LUCIFER. Away to hell, away! On, piper! |
|
[Exeunt the SINS.]
|
| FAUSTUS. O, how this sight doth delight my soul! |
| LUCIFER. Tut,<87> Faustus, in hell is all manner of delight. |
| FAUSTUS. O, might I see hell, and return again safe, |
| How happy were I then! |
| LUCIFER. Faustus, thou shalt; at midnight I will send for thee. |
| Meanwhile peruse this book and view it throughly, |
| And thou shalt turn thyself into what shape thou wilt. |
| FAUSTUS. Thanks, mighty Lucifer! |
| This will I keep as chary as my life. |
| LUCIFER. Now, Faustus, farewell. |
| FAUSTUS. Farewell, great Lucifer. |
|
[Exeunt LUCIFER and BELZEBUB.]
|
| Come, Mephistophilis. |
|
[Exeunt.]
|
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