And try the uttermost magic can perform.--
Sint mihi dei Acherontis propitii! Valeat numen triplex Jehovoe! Ignei, aerii, aquatani spiritus, salvete! Orientis princeps
Belzebub, inferni ardentis monarcha, et Demogorgon, propitiamus vos, ut appareat et surgat Mephistophilis, quod tumeraris:52
per Jehovam, Gehennam, et consecratam aquam quam nunc spargo, signumque crucis quod nunc facio, et per vota nostra, ipse nunc surgat nobis dicatus53 Mephistophilis!
Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS.
I charge thee to return, and change thy shape; Thou art too ugly to attend on me:
Go, and return an old Franciscan friar; That holy shape becomes a devil best. [Exit MEPHISTOPHILIS.]
I see there's virtue in my heavenly words: Who would not be proficient in this art? How pliant is this Mephistophilis,
Full of obedience and humility!
Such is the force of magic and my spells: No, Faustus, thou art conjuror laureat,
That canst command great Mephistophilis: Quin regis Mephistophilis fratris imagine.
Re-enter MEPHISTOPHILIS like a Franciscan friar.54
MEPHIST. Now, Faustus, what wouldst thou have me do? FAUSTUS. I charge thee wait upon me whilst I live,
To do whatever Faustus shall command,
Be it to make the moon drop from her sphere, Or the ocean to overwhelm the world.
MEPHIST. I am a servant to great Lucifer, And may not follow thee without his leave:
No more than he commands must we perform.
FAUSTUS. Did not he charge thee to appear to me?
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MEPHIST. No, I came hither55 of mine own accord. FAUSTUS. Did not my conjuring speeches raise thee? speak.
MEPHIST. That was the cause, but yet per accidens;56
For, when we hear one rack the name of God, Abjure the Scriptures and his Saviour Christ, We fly, in hope to get his glorious soul;
Nor will we come, unless he use such means Whereby he is in danger to be damn'd. Therefore the shortest cut for conjuring
Is stoutly to abjure the Trinity,
And pray devoutly to the prince of hell.
FAUSTUS. So Faustus hath
Already done; and holds this principle, There is no chief but only Belzebub;
To whom Faustus doth dedicate himself. This word "damnation" terrifies not him, For he confounds hell in Elysium:
His ghost be with the old philosophers!
But, leaving these vain trifles of men's souls,
Tell me what is that Lucifer thy lord?
MEPHIST. Arch-regent and commander of all spirits. FAUSTUS. Was not that Lucifer an angel once? MEPHIST. Yes, Faustus, and most dearly lov'd of God.
FAUSTUS. How comes it, then, that he is prince of devils?
MEPHIST. O, by aspiring pride and insolence;
For which God threw him from the face of heaven. FAUSTUS. And what are you that live with Lucifer?
MEPHIST. Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer, Conspir'd against our God with Lucifer,
And are for ever damn'd with Lucifer. FAUSTUS. Where are you damn'd? MEPHIST. In hell.
FAUSTUS. How comes it, then, that thou art out of hell?
MEPHIST. Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it:57
Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of God, And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells, In being depriv'd of everlasting bliss?
O, Faustus, leave these frivolous demands, Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!
FAUSTUS. What, is great Mephistophilis so passionate
For being deprived of the joys of heaven? Learn thou of Faustus manly fortitude,
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And scorn those joys thou never shalt possess. Go bear these58 tidings to great Lucifer: Seeing Faustus hath incurr'd eternal death
By desperate thoughts against Jove's59 deity, Say, he surrenders up to him his soul,
So he will spare him four and twenty60 years, Letting him live in all voluptuousness;
Having thee ever to attend on me, To give me whatsoever I shall ask, To tell me whatsoever I demand,
To slay mine enemies, and aid my friends, And always be obedient to my will.
Go and return to mighty Lucifer,
And meet me in my study at midnight,
And then resolve61 me of thy master's mind.
MEPHIST. I will, Faustus. [Exit.]
FAUSTUS. Had I as many souls as there be stars, I'd give them all for Mephistophilis.
By him I'll be great emperor of the world,
And make a bridge thorough62 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 country63 continent to Spain, And both contributory to my crown:
The Emperor shall not live but by my leave, Nor any potentate of Germany.
Now that I have obtain'd what I desir'd,64
I'll live in speculation of this art, Till Mephistophilis return again. [Exit.]
Enter WAGNER65 and CLOWN. WAGNER. Sirrah boy, come hither.
CLOWN. How, boy! swowns, boy! I hope you have seen many boys with such pickadevaunts66 as I have: boy, quotha!
WAGNER. Tell me, sirrah, hast thou any comings in? CLOWN. Ay, and goings out too; you may see else.
WAGNER. Alas, poor slave! see how poverty jesteth in his nakedness!
the villain is bare and out of service, and so hungry, that I know he would give his soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton, though it were blood-raw.
CLOWN. How! my soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton, though
'twere blood-raw! not so, good friend: by'r lady,67 I had need have it well roasted, and good sauce to it, if I pay so dear.
WAGNER. Well, wilt thou serve me, and I'll make thee go like
Qui mihi discipulus?68
CLOWN. How, in verse?
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WAGNER. No, sirrah; in beaten silk and staves-acre.69
CLOWN. How, how, knaves-acre! ay, I thought that was all the land his father left him. Do you hear? I would be sorry to rob you of your living.
WAGNER. Sirrah, I say in staves-acre.
CLOWN. Oho, oho, staves-acre! why, then, belike, if I were your man, I should be full of vermin.70
WAGNER. So thou shalt, whether thou beest with me or no. But, sirrah, leave your jesting, and bind yourself presently unto me
for seven years, or I'll turn all the lice about thee into familiars,71 and they shall tear thee in pieces.
CLOWN. Do you hear, sir? you may save that labour; they are too
familiar with me already: swowns, they are as bold with my flesh
as if they had paid for their72 meat and drink.
WAGNER. Well, do you hear, sirrah? hold, take these guilders. [Gives money.]
CLOWN. Gridirons! what be they? WAGNER. Why, French crowns.
CLOWN. Mass, but for the name of French crowns, a man were as good have as