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.]