HE SHALL APPEAR TO THE SAID JOHN FAUSTUS, AT ALL TIMES, IN WHAT FORM OR SHAPE SOEVER HE PLEASE. I, JOHN FAUSTUS, OF WERTENBERG, DOCTOR, BY THESE PRESENTS, DO GIVE BOTH BODY AND SOUL TO LUCIFER PRINCE OF THE EAST, AND HIS MINISTER MEPHISTOPHILIS; AND FURTHERMORE GRANT UNTO THEM, THAT,89 TWENTY-FOUR YEARS BEING EXPIRED, THE ARTICLES ABOVE-WRITTEN INVIOLATE, FULL POWER TO FETCH OR CARRY THE SAID JOHN FAUSTUS, BODY AND SOUL, FLESH, BLOOD, OR GOODS, INTO THEIR HABITATION WHERESOEVER. BY ME, JOHN FAUSTUS. MEPHIST. Speak, Faustus, do you deliver this as your deed? FAUSTUS. Ay, take it, and the devil give thee good on't! MEPHIST. Now, Faustus, ask what thou wilt. FAUSTUS. First will I question with thee about hell. Tell me, where is the place that men call hell? MEPHIST. Under the heavens. FAUSTUS. Ay, but whereabout? MEPHIST. Within the bowels of these90 elements, Where we are tortur'd and remain for ever: Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd In one self place; for where we are is hell, And where hell is, there91 must we ever be: And, to conclude, when all the world dissolves, And every creature shall be purified, All places shall be hell that are92 not heaven. FAUSTUS. Come, I think hell's a fable. MEPHIST. Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind. FAUSTUS. Why, think'st thou, then, that Faustus shall be damn'd? MEPHIST. Ay, of necessity, for here's the scroll Wherein thou hast given thy soul to Lucifer. FAUSTUS. Ay, and body too: but what of that? Think'st thou that Faustus is so fond93 to imagine That, after this life, there is any pain? Tush, these are trifles and mere old wives' tales. MEPHIST. But, Faustus, I am an instance to prove the contrary, For I am damn'd, and am now in hell. FAUSTUS. How! now in hell! Nay, an this be hell, I'll willingly be damn'd here: What! walking, disputing, &c.94 But, leaving off this, let me have a wife,95 The fairest maid in Germany; For I am wanton and lascivious, And cannot live without a wife. MEPHIST. How! a wife! I prithee, Faustus, talk not of a wife. FAUSTUS. Nay, sweet Mephistophilis, fetch me one, for I will have one. MEPHIST. Well, thou wilt have one? Sit there till I come: I'll fetch thee a wife in the devil's name. [Exit.] Re-enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with a DEVIL drest like a WOMAN, with fire-works. MEPHIST. Tell me,96 Faustus, how dost thou like thy wife? FAUSTUS. A plague on her for a hot whore! MEPHIST. Tut, Faustus, Marriage is but a ceremonial toy; If thou lovest me, think no97 more of it. I'll cull thee out the fairest courtezans, And bring them every morning to thy bed: She whom thine eye shall like, thy heart shall have, Be she as chaste as was Penelope, As wise as Saba,98 or as beautiful As was bright Lucifer before his fall. Hold, take this book, peruse it thoroughly: [Gives book.] The iterating99 of these lines brings gold; The framing of this circle on the ground Brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder, and lightning; Pronounce this thrice devoutly to thyself, And men in armour shall appear to thee, Ready to execute what thou desir'st. FAUSTUS. Thanks, Mephistophilis: yet fain would I have a book wherein I might behold all spells and incantations, that I might raise up spirits when I please. MEPHIST. Here they are in this book. [Turns to them.] FAUSTUS. Now would I have a book where I might see all characters and planets of the heavens, that I might know their motions and dispositions. MEPHIST. Here they are too. [Turns to them.] FAUSTUS. Nay, let me have one book more—and then I have done— wherein I might see all plants, herbs, and trees, that grow upon the earth. MEPHIST. Here they be. FAUSTUS. O, thou art deceived. MEPHIST. Tut, I warrant thee. [Turns to them.] FAUSTUS. When I behold the heavens, then I repent, And curse thee, wicked Mephistophilis, Because thou hast depriv'd me of those joys. MEPHIST. Why, Faustus, Thinkest thou heaven is such a glorious thing? I tell thee, 'tis not half so fair as thou, Or any man that breathes on earth. FAUSTUS. How prov'st thou that? MEPHIST. 'Twas made for man, therefore is man more excellent. FAUSTUS. If it were made for man, 'twas made for me: I will renounce this magic and repent. Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL. GOOD ANGEL. Faustus, repent; yet God will pity thee. EVIL ANGEL. Thou art a spirit; God cannot pity thee. FAUSTUS. Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a spirit? Be I a devil, yet God may pity me; Ay, God will pity me, if I repent. EVIL ANGEL. Ay, but Faustus never shall repent. [Exeunt ANGELS.] FAUSTUS. My heart's so harden'd, I cannot repent: Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven, But fearful echoes thunder in mine ears,
