Chapter XV: Act V: Scene I (1)

[_Enter_] _the_ GOVERNOR _of_ DAMASCUS, _with three or four_ Citizens, _and four_ Virgins, _with branches of laurel in their hands_.

_Gov._ Still doth this man, or rather god of war,
Batter our walls and beat our turrets down;
And to resist with longer stubbornness
Or hope of rescue from the Soldan’s power,
Were but to bring our wilful overthrow, 5
And make us desperate of our threat’ned lives.
We see his tents have now been altered
With terrors to the last and cruellest hue.
His coal-black colours everywhere advanc’d
Threaten our city with a general spoil; 10
And if we should with common rites of arms
Offer our safeties to his clemency,
I fear the custom, proper to his sword,
Which he observes as parcel of his fame,
Intending so to terrify the world, 15
By any innovation or remorse
Will never be dispens’d with till our deaths.
Therefore, for these our harmless virgins’ sakes,
Whose honours and whose lives rely on him,
Let us have hope that their unspotted prayers, 20
Their blubbered cheeks, and hearty, humble moans,
Will melt his fury into some remorse,[340]
And use us like a loving conqueror.

_1 Virg._ If humble suits or imprecations,[341]
(Uttered with tears of wretchedness and blood 25
Shed from the heads and hearts of all our sex,
Some made your wives and some your children)
Might have entreated your obdurate breasts
To entertain some care of our securities
Whiles only danger beat upon our walls, 30
These more than dangerous warrants of our death
Had never been erected as they be,
Nor you depend on such weak helps as we.

_Gov._ Well, lovely virgins, think our country’s care,
Our love of honour, loath to be inthrall’d 35
To foreign powers and rough imperious yokes,
Would not with too much cowardice or fear,
(Before all hope of rescue were denied)
Submit yourselves and us to servitude.
Therefore in that your safeties and our own, 40
Your honours, liberties, and lives were weigh’d
In equal care and balance with our own,
Endure as we the malice of our stars,
The wrath of Tamburlaine, and power of wars;
Or be the means the overweighing heavens 45
Have kept to qualify[342] these hot extremes,
And bring us pardon in your cheerful looks.

_2 Virg._ Then here before the majesty of Heaven
And holy patrons of Egyptia,
With knees and hearts submissive we entreat 50
Grace to our words and pity to our looks
That this device may prove propitious,
And through the eyes and ears of Tamburlaine
Convey events of mercy to his heart;
Grant that these signs of victory we yield 55
May bind the temples of his conquering head,
To hide the folded furrows of his brows,
And shadow his displeased countenance
With happy looks of ruth and lenity.
Leave us, my lord, and loving countrymen; 60
What simple virgins may persuade, we will.

_Gov._ Farewell, sweet virgins, on whose safe return
Depends our city, liberty, and lives. _Exeunt._

SCENE II.

[_Enter_] TAMBURLAINE, _all in black and very melancholy_, TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE, _with others_.

_Tamb._ What, are the turtles fray’d[343] out of their nests?
Alas, poor fools! must you be first shall feel
The sworn destruction of Damascus?
They knew my custom; could they not as well
Have sent ye out when first my milk-white flags, 5
Through which sweet Mercy threw her gentle beams,
Reflexing[344] them on your disdainful eyes,
As now, when fury and incensed hate
Flings slaughtering terror from my coal-black tents, 9
And tells for truth submission[345] comes too late?

_1 Virg._ Most happy King and Emperor of the earth,
Image of honour and nobility,
For whom the powers divine have made the world,
And on whose throne the holy Graces sit;
In whose sweet person is compris’d the sum 15
Of Nature’s skill and heavenly majesty;
Pity our plights! O pity poor Damascus!
Pity old age, within whose silver hairs
Honour and reverence evermore have reign’d!
Pity the marriage bed, where many a lord, 20
In prime and glory of his loving joy,
Embraceth now with tears of ruth and blood
The jealous body of his fearful wife,
Whose cheeks and hearts, so punish’d with conceit
To think thy puissant, never-stayed arm 25
Will part their bodies, and prevent their souls
From heavens of comfort yet their age might bear,
Now wax all pale and withered to the death,
As well for grief our ruthless governor
Hath thus refus’d the mercy of thy hand, 30
(Whose sceptre angels kiss and furies dread,)
As for their liberties, their loves, or lives!
O then for these, and such as we ourselves,
For us, our infants, and for all our bloods,
That never nourish’d thought against thy rule,
Pity. O pity, sacred Emperor, 36
The prostrate service of this wretched town,
And take in sign thereof this gilded wreath;
Whereto each man of rule hath given his hand,
And wish’d, as worthy subjects, happy means
To be investers of thy royal brows 41
Even with the true Egyptian diadem!

_Tamb._ Virgins, in vain ye labour to prevent
That which mine honour swears shall be perform’d.
Behold my sword! what see you at the point?

_1 Virg._ Nothing but fear and fatal steel, my lord. 46

_Tamb._ Your fearful minds are thick and misty then;
For there sits Death, there sits imperious Death
Keeping his circuit[346] by the slicing edge.
But I am pleas’d you shall not see him there;
He now is seated on my horsemen’s spears, 51
And on their points his fleshless body feeds.
Techelles, straight go charge a few of them
To charge these dames, and show my servant, Death,
Sitting in scarlet on their armed spears. 55

_Virgins._ O pity us!

_Tamb._ Away with them, I say, and show them Death.
_They take them away._
I will not spare these proud Egyptians,
Nor change my martial observations
For all the wealth of Gihon’s golden waves, 60
Or for the love of Venus, would she leave
The angry god of arms and lie with me.
They have refus’d the offer of their lives,
And know my customs are as peremptory
As wrathful planets, death, or destiny. 65
_Re-enter_ TECHELLES.
What, have your horsemen shown the virgins Death?

_Tech._ They have, my lord, and on Damascus’ walls
Have hoisted up their slaughtered carcases.

_Tamb._ A sight as baneful to their souls, I think,
As are Thessalian drugs or mithridate:[347] 70
But go, my lords, put the rest to the sword.
_Exeunt_ [_all except_ TAMBURLAINE].
Ah, fair Zenocrate! divine Zenocrate!
Fair is too foul an epithet for thee,
That in thy passion[348] for thy country’s love,
And fear to see thy kingly father’s harm, 75
With hair dishevell’d wip’st thy watery cheeks;
And, like to Flora in her morning’s pride
Shaking her silver tresses in the air,
Rain’st on the earth resolved[349] pearl in showers,
And sprinklest sapphires on thy shining face, 80
Where Beauty, mother to the Muses, sits
And comments volumes with her ivory pen,
Taking instructions from thy flowing eyes;
Eyes when that Ebena steps to Heaven,
In silence of thy solemn evening’s walk, 85
Making the mantle of the richest night,
The moon, the planets, and the meteors, light;
There angels in their crystal armours fight
A doubtful battle with my tempted thoughts
For Egypt’s freedom, and the Soldan’s life; 90
His life that so consumes Zenocrate,
Whose sorrows lay more siege unto my soul,
Than all my army to Damascus’ walls:
And neither Persia’s sovereign, nor the Turk
Troubled my senses with conceit of foil[350] 95
So much by much as doth Zenocrate.
What is beauty, saith my sufferings, then?
If all the pens that ever poets held
Had fed the feeling of their masters’ thoughts,
And every sweetness that inspir’d their hearts,
Their minds, and muses on admired themes; 101
If all the heavenly quintessence they still[351]
From their immortal flowers of poesy,
Wherein, as in a mirror, we perceive
The highest reaches of a human wit; 105
If these had made one poem’s period,
And all combin’d in beauty’s worthiness,
Yet should there hover in their restless heads
One thought, one grace, one wonder, at the least,
Which into words no virtue can digest. 110
But how unseemly is it for my sex,
My discipline of arms and chivalry,
My nature, and the terror of my name,
To harbour thoughts effeminate and faint!
Save only that in beauty’s just applause, 115
With whose instinct the soul of man is touch’d;—
And every warrior that is rapt with love
Of fame, of valour, and of victory,
Must needs have beauty beat on his conceits:
I thus conceiving and subduing both 120
That which hath stoop’d the [chiefest][352] of the gods,
Even from the fiery-spangled veil of Heaven,
To feel the lowly[353] warmth of shepherds’ flames,
And mask[354] in cottages of strowed reeds,[355]
Shall give the world to note, for all my birth,
That virtue solely is the sum of glory, 126
And fashions men with true nobility.—
Who’s within there?
_Enter two or three_ [Attendants].
Hath Bajazeth been fed to-day?

_Atten._ Ay, my lord. 130

_Tamb._ Bring him forth; and let us know if the town be ransack’d.
[_Exeunt_ Attendants.]

_Enter_ TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE, _and others_.

_Tech._ The town is ours, my lord, and fresh supply
Of conquest and of spoil is offered us.

_Tamb._ That’s well, Techelles; what’s the news? 135

_Tech._ The Soldan and the Arabian king together,
March on us with such eager violence,
As if there were no way but one with us.

_Tamb._ No more there is not, I warrant thee, Techelles.

_They bring in the Turk_ [_and_ ZABINA].

_Ther._ We know the victory is ours, my lord;
But let us save the reverend Soldan’s life, 141
For fair Zenocrate that so laments his state.

_Tamb._ That will we chiefly see unto, Theridamas,
For sweet Zenocrate, whose worthiness
Deserves a conquest over every heart. 145
And now, my footstool, if I lose the field,
You hope of liberty and restitution?
Here let him stay, my masters, from the tents,
Till we have made us ready for the field.
Pray for us, Bajazeth: we are going. 150

_Exeunt_ [_all except_ BAJAZETH _and_ ZABINA].

_Baj._ Go, never to return with victory!
Millions of men encompass thee about,
And gore thy body with as many wounds!
Sharp, forked arrows light upon thy horse!
Furies from the black Cocytus lake 155
Break up the earth, and with their firebrands
Enforce thee run upon the baneful pikes!
Volleys of shot pierce through thy charmed skin,
And every bullet dipt in poisoned drugs!
Or roaring cannons sever all thy joints, 160
Making thee mount as high as eagles soar!

_Zab._ Let all the swords and lances in the field
Stick in his breast as in their proper rooms!
At every pore let blood come dropping forth,
That ling’ring pains may massacre his heart, 165
And madness send his damned soul to hell!

_Baj._ All, fair Zabina! we may curse his power,
The heavens may frown, the earth for anger quake,
But such a star hath influence in his sword, 169
As rules the skies and countermands the gods
More than Cimmerian Styx or Destiny;
And then shall we in this detested guise,
With shame, with hunger, and with horror [stay,][356]
Griping our bowels with retorqued[357] thoughts,
And have no hope to end our ecstasies. 175

_Zab._ Then is there left no Mahomet, no God,
No Fiend, no Fortune, nor no hope of end
To our infamous, monstrous slaveries.
Gape, earth, and let the fiends infernal view
A hell as hopeless and as full of fear 180
As are the blasted banks of Erebus,
Where shaking ghosts with ever-howling groans
Hover about the ugly ferryman,
To get a passage to Elysium!
Why should we live? O, wretches, beggars, slaves! 185
Why live we, Bajazeth, and build up nests
So high within the region of the air
By living long in this oppression,
That all the world will see and laugh to scorn
The former triumphs of our mightiness 190
In this obscure infernal servitude?

_Baj._ O life, more loathsome to my vexed thoughts
Than noisome parbreak[358] of the Stygian snakes,
Which fills the nooks of hell with standing air,
Infecting all the ghosts with cureless griefs! 195
O dreary engines[359] of my loathed sight,
That sees my crown, my honour, and my name
Thrust under yoke and thraldom of a thief,
Why feed ye still on day’s accursed beams
And sink not quite into my tortur’d soul? 200
You see my wife, my queen, and emperess,
Brought up and propped by the hand of fame,
Queen of fifteen contributory queens,
Now thrown to rooms of black abjection,
Smeared with blots of basest drudgery, 205
And villainess[360] to shame, disdain, and misery.
Accursed Bajazeth, whose words of ruth,
(That would with pity cheer Zabina’s heart,
And make our souls resolve[361] in ceaseless tears;)
Sharp hunger bites upon, and gripes the root 210
From whence the issues of my thoughts do break;
O poor Zabina! O my queen! my queen!
Fetch me some water for my burning breast,
To cool and comfort me with longer date,
That in the short’ned sequel of my life 215
I may pour forth my soul into thine arms
With words of love, whose moaning intercourse
Hath hitherto been stay’d with wrath and hate
Of our expressless bann’d inflictions.

_Zab._ Sweet Bajazeth, I will prolong thy life,
As long as any blood or spark of breath 221
Can quench or cool the torments of my grief.
_She goes out._

_Baj._ Now, Bajazeth, abridge thy baneful days,
And beat thy brains out of thy conquer’d head,
Since other means are all forbidden me 225
That may be ministers of my decay.
O, highest lamp of ever-living Jove,
Accursed day! infected with my griefs,
Hide now thy stained face in endless night,
And shut the windows of the lightsome heavens! 230
Let ugly Darkness with her rusty coach,
Engirt with tempests, wrapt in pitchy clouds,
Smother the earth with never-fading mists,
And let her horses from their nostrils breathe
Rebellious winds and dreadful thunder-claps, 235
That in this terror Tamburlaine may live,
And my pin’d soul, resolv’d in liquid air,
May still excruciate his tormented thoughts!
Then let the stony dart of senseless cold
Pierce through the centre of my withered heart,
And make a passage for my loathed life! 241
_He brains himself against the cage._

_Re-enter_ ZABINA.

_Zab._ What do mine eyes behold? My husband dead!
His skull all riven in twain! His brains dash’d out,
The brains of Bajazeth, my lord and sovereign!
O Bajazeth, my husband and my lord! 245
O Bajazeth! O Turk! O Emperor!
Give him his liquor? Not I. Bring milk and fire, and my blood
I bring him again.—Tear me in pieces! Give me the sword with
a ball of wildfire upon it.—Down with him! Down with (250)
him!—Go to my child! Away! Away! Away! Ah, save that infant!
save him, save him!—I, even I, speak to her.—The sun was down;
streamers white, red, black, here, here, here!—Fling the meat in
his face—Tamburlaine, Tamburlaine!—Let the soldiers be (256)
buried.—Hell! Death! Tamburlaine! Hell!—Make ready my coach, my
chair, my jewels. I come! I come! I come!
_She runs against the cage and brains herself._

[_Enter_] ZENOCRATE _with_ ANIPPE.

_Zeno._ Wretched Zenocrate! that liv’st to see
Damascus’ walls dy’d with Egyptians’ blood, 261
Thy father’s subjects and thy countrymen;
Thy streets strow’d with dissevered joints of men
And wounded bodies gasping yet for life:
But most accurst, to see the sun-bright troop 265
Of heavenly virgins and unspotted maids,
(Whose looks might make the angry god of arms
To break his sword and mildly treat of love)
On horsemen’s lances to be hoisted up
And guiltlessly endure a cruel death: 270
For every fell and stout Tartarian steed,
That stampt on others with their thund’ring hoofs,
When all their riders charg’d their quivering spears,
Began to check the ground and rein themselves,
Gazing upon the beauty of their looks. 275
Ah Tamburlaine! wert thou the cause of this
That term’st Zenocrate thy dearest love?
Whose lives were dearer to Zenocrate
Than her own life, or aught save thine own love.
But see another bloody spectacle! 280
Ah, wretched eyes, the enemies of my heart,
How are ye glutted with these grievous objects,
And tell my soul more tales of bleeding ruth!
See, see, Anippe, if they breathe or no.

_Anippe._ No breath, nor sense, nor motion in them both; 285
Ah, madam! this their slavery hath enforc’d,
And ruthless cruelty of Tamburlaine.

_Zeno._ Earth, cast up fountains from thy entrails,
And wet thy cheeks for their untimely deaths!
Shake with their weight in sign of fear and grief! 290
Blush, Heaven, that gave them houour at their birth
And let them die a death so barbarous!
Those that are proud of fickle empery
And place their chiefest good in earthly pomp,
Behold the Turk and his great Emperess! 295
Ah, Tamburlaine! my love! sweet Tamburlaine!
That fight’st for sceptres and for slippery crowns,
Behold the Turk and his great Emperess!
Thou, that in conduct of thy happy stars
Sleep’st every night with conquests on thy brows, 300
And yet would’st shun the wavering turns of war,
In fear and feeling of the like distress
Behold the Turk and his great Emperess!
Ah, mighty Jove and holy Mahomet,
Pardon my love!—O, pardon his contempt 305
Of earthly fortune and respect of pity,
And let not conquest, ruthlessly pursu’d,
Be equally against his life incens’d
In this great Turk and hapless Emperess!
And pardon me that was not mov’d with ruth
To see them live so long in misery! 311
Ah, what may chance to thee, Zenocrate?

_Anippe._ Madam, content yourself, and be resolv’d
Your love hath Fortune so at his command,
That she shall stay and turn her wheel no more,
As long as life maintains his mighty arm 316
That fights for honour to adorn your head.

_Enter_ [PHILEMUS,] _a_ Messenger.

_Zeno._ What other heavy news now brings Philemus?

_Phil._ Madam, your father, and the Arabian king,
The first affecter of your excellence, 320
Comes now, as Turnus ’gainst Æneas did,
Armed with lance into the Egyptian fields,
Ready for battle ’gainst my lord, the king.

_Zeno._ Now shame and duty, love, and fear presents
A thousand sorrows to my martyred soul. 325
Whom should I wish the fatal victory
When my poor pleasures are divided thus
And rack’d by duty from my cursed heart?
My father and my first-betrothed love
Must fight against my life and present love; 330
Wherein the change I use condemns my faith,
And makes my deeds infamous through the world:
But as the gods, to end the Troyans’ toil,
Prevented Turnus of Lavinia
And fatally enrich’d Æneas’ love, 335
So, for a final issue to my griefs,
To pacify my country and my love
Must Tamburlaine by their resistless powers
With virtue of a gentle victory
Conclude a league of honour to my hope; 340
Then, as the Powers divine have pre-ordain’d,
With happy safety of my father’s life
Send like defence of fair Arabia.

_They sound to the battle_ [_within_]: and_ TAMBURLAINE _enjoys the victory. After,_ [_the_ KING _of_] ARABIA _enters wounded_.

_K. of Arab._ What cursed power guides the murdering hands
Of this infamous tyrant’s soldiers 345
That no escape may save their enemies,
Nor fortune keep themselves from victory?
Lie down, Arabia, wounded to the death,
And let Zenocrate’s fair eyes behold
That, as for her thou bear’st these wretched arms, 350
Even so for her thou diest in these arms,
Leaving thy blood for witness of thy love.

_Zeno._ Too dear a witness for such love, my lord,
Behold Zenocrate! the cursed object,
Whose fortunes never mastered her griefs; 355
Behold her wounded, in conceit, for thee,
As much as thy fair body is for me.

_K. of Arab._ Then shall I die with full, contented heart,
Having beheld divine Zenocrate,
Whose sight with joy would take away my life
As now it bringeth sweetness to my wound, 361
If I had not been wounded as I am.
Ah! that the deadly pangs I suffer now,
Would lend an hour’s licence to my tongue,
To make discourse of some sweet accidents 365
Have chanc’d thy merits in this worthless bondage;
And that I might be privy to the state
Of thy deserv’d contentment, and thy love;
But, making now a virtue of thy sight
To drive all sorrow from my fainting soul, 370
Since death denies me farther cause of joy,
Depriv’d of care, my heart with comfort dies,
Since thy desired hand shall close mine eyes.
[_He dies._]

_Re-enter_ TAMBURLAINE, _leading the_ SOLDAN, TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE, _with others_.

_Tamb._ Come, happy father of Zenocrate,
A title higher than thy Soldan’s name; 375
Though my right hand have thus enthralled thee,
Thy princely daughter here shall set thee free;
She that hath calm’d the fury of my sword,
Which had ere this been bath’d in streams of blood
As vast and deep as Euphrates or Nile. 380

_Zeno._ O sight thrice welcome to my joyful soul,
To see the king, my father, issue safe
From dangerous battle of my conquering love!

_Sold._ Well met, my only dear Zenocrate, 384
Though with the loss of Egypt and my crown.

_Tamb._ ’T was I, my lord, that got the victory,
And therefore grieve not at your overthrow,
Since I shall render all into your hands,
And add more strength to your dominions
Than ever yet confirm’d th’ Egyptian crown.
The god of war resigns his room to me, 391
Meaning to make me general of the world.
Jove, viewing me in arms, looks pale and wan,
Fearing my power should pull him from his throne.
Where’er I come the Fatal Sisters sweat, 395
And grisly Death, by running to and fro,
To do their ceaseless homage to my sword;
And here in Afric, where it seldom rains,
Since I arriv’d with my triumphant host,
Have swelling clouds, drawn from wide-gasping wounds, 400
Been oft resolv’d in bloody purple showers,
A meteor that might terrify the earth,
And make it quake at every drop it drinks.
Millions of souls sit on the banks of Styx,
Waiting the back return of Charon’s boat; 405
Hell and Elysium swarm with ghosts of men,
That I have sent from sundry foughten fields,
To spread my fame through hell and up to Heaven.
And see, my lord, a sight of strange import, 409
Emperors and kings lie breathless at my feet.
The Turk and his great Empress, as it seems,
Left to themselves while we were at the fight,
Have desperately despatch’d their slavish lives;
With them Arabia, too, hath left his life;
All sights of power to grace my victory: 415
And such are objects fit for Tamburlaine;
Wherein, as in a mirror, may be seen
His honour, that consists in shedding blood,
When men presume to manage arms with him.

_Sold._ Mighty hath God and Mahomet made thy hand, 420
Renowmed Tamburlaine! to whom all kings
Of force must yield their crowns and emperies;
And I am pleas’d with this my overthrow,
If, as beseems a person of thy state,
Thou hast with honour us’d Zenocrate. 425

_Tamb._ Her state and person wants no pomp, you see;
And for all blot of foul inchastity
I record Heaven her heavenly self is clear.
Then let me find no further time to grace 429
Her princely temples with the Persian crown.
But here these kings that on my fortunes wait,
And have been crown’d for proved worthiness,
Even by this hand that shall establish them,
Shall now, adjoining all their hands with mine,
Invest her here my Queen of Persia. 435
What saith the noble Soldan and Zenocrate!

_Sold._ I yield with thanks and protestations
Of endless honour to thee for her love.

_Tamb._ Then doubt I not but fair Zenocrate
Will soon consent to satisfy us both. 440

_Zeno._ Else should I much forget myself, my lord.

_Ther._ Then let us set the crown upon her head,
That long hath ling’red for so high a seat.

_Tech._ My hand is ready to perform the deed;
For now her marriage-time shall work us rest.

_Usum._ And here’s the crown, my lord; help set it on. 446

_Tamb._ Then sit thou down, divine Zenocrate;
And here we crown thee Queen of Persia,
And all the kingdoms and dominions
That late the power of Tamburlaine subdu’d.
As Juno, when the giants were suppress’d, 451
That darted mountains at her brother Jove,
So looks my love, shadowing in her brows
Triumphs and trophies for my victories;
Or as Latona’s daughters, bent to arms, 455
Adding more courage to my conquering mind.
To gratify the sweet Zenocrate,
Egyptians, Moors, and men of Asia,
From Barbary unto the western India,
Shall pay a yearly tribute to thy sire; 460
And from the bounds of Afric to the banks
Of Ganges shall his mighty arm extend.
And now, my lords and loving followers,
That purchas’d kingdoms by your martial deeds,
Cast off your armour, put on scarlet robes, 465
Mount up your royal places of estate,
Environed with troops of noblemen,
And there make laws to rule your provinces.
Hang up your weapons on Alcides’ post,
For Tamburlaine takes truce with all the world.
Thy first-betrothed love, Arabia, 471
Shall we with honour, as beseems, entomb,
With this great Turk and his fair Emperess.
Then, after all these solemn exequies,
We will our[362] rites of marriage solemnise. 475
[_Exeunt._]

THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS

BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

[DRAMATIS PERSONAE

THE POPE.
CARDINAL OF LORRAIN.
EMPEROR OF GERMANY.
DUKE OF VANHOLT.
FAUSTUS.
VALDES and CORNELIUS, Friends to FAUSTUS.
WAGNER, Servant to FAUSTUS.
Clown.
ROBIN.
RALPH.
Vintner.
Horse-Courser.
Knight.
Old Man.
Scholars, Friars, and Attendants.
DUCHESS OF VANHOLT.
LUCIFER.
BELZEBUB.
MEPHISTOPHILIS.
Good Angel.
Evil Angel.
The Seven Deadly Sins.
Devils.
Spirits in the shape of ALEXANDER THE GREAT, of his Paramour, and of
HELEN OF TROY.
CHORUS.]

_Enter_ CHORUS

_Chorus._ Not marching now in fields of Thrasimene,
Where Mars did mate[363] the Carthaginians;
Nor sporting in the dalliance of love,
In courts of kings where state is overturn’d;
Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds, 5
Intends our Muse to vaunt his heavenly verse:
Only this, gentlemen,—we must perform
The form of Faustus’ fortunes, good or bad.
To patient judgments we appeal our plaud,[364]
And speak for Faustus in his infancy. 10
Now is he born, his parents base of stock,
In Germany, within a town call’d Rhodes;[365]
Of riper years to Wittenberg he went,
Whereas his kinsmen chiefly brought him up.
So soon he profits in divinity, 15
The fruitful plot of scholarism grac’d,[366]
That shortly he was grac’d with doctor’s name,
Excelling all whose sweet delight disputes
In heavenly matters of theology;
Till swollen with cunning,[367] of a self-conceit, 20
His waxen wings[368] did mount above his reach,
And, melting, Heavens conspir’d his overthrow;
For, falling to a devilish exercise,
And glutted [now] with learning’s golden gifts,
He surfeits upon cursed necromancy. 25
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._

[SCENE I.]

_Enter_ FAUSTUS _in his Study_

_Faust._ Settle my studies, Faustus, and begin
To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess[369];
Having commenc’d, be a divine in show.
Yet level[370] and at the end of every art,
And live and die in Aristotle’s works. 5
Sweet Analytics,[371] ’tis thou hast ravish’d me,
_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 attain’d the end;
A greater subject fitteth Faustus’ wit. 11
Bid ὂν καὶ μὴ ὄν[372] farewell; Galen come,
Seeing _Ubi desinit Philosophus, ibi incipit Medicus_;[373]
Be a physician, Faustus, heap up gold,
And be eternis’d for some wondrous cure. 15
_Summum bonum medicinæ sanitas_,[374]
“The end of physic is our body’s health.”
Why, Faustus, hast thou not attain’d that end?
Is not thy common talk sound Aphorisms?[375]
Are not thy bills[376] hung up as monuments, 20
Whereby whole cities have escap’d the plague,
And thousand desperate maladies been eas’d?
Yet art thou still but Faustus and a man.
Wouldst thou make men to live eternally,
Or, being dead, raise them to life again? 25
Then this profession were to be esteem’d.
Physic, farewell.—Where is Justinian?
[_Reads._]
_Si una eademque res legatur duobus, alter rem, alter valorem rei,
&c._[377]
A pretty case of paltry legacies! [_Reads._]
_Exhæreditare filium non potest pater nisi, &c._[378] 30
Such is the subject of the Institute[379]
And universal Body of the Law.[380]
His[381] study fits a mercenary drudge,
Who aims at nothing but external trash;
Too servile and illiberal for me. 35
When all is done, divinity is best;
Jerome’s Bible,[382] Faustus, view it well.
[_Reads._]
_Stipendium peccati mors est._ Ha! _Stipendium, &c.
“The reward of sin is death.”_ That’s hard.
[_Reads._]
_Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis veritas._ 40
“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 sera sera_, 45
“What will be shall be?” Divinity, adieu!
These metaphysics of magicians
And necromantic books are heavenly;
Lines, circles, scenes, letters, and characters, 49
Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.
O what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence
Is promis’d to the studious artisan!
All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command. Emperors and kings
Are but obeyed in their several provinces, 56
Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds;
But his dominion that exceeds[383] in this
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man.
A sound magician is a mighty god: 60
Here, Faustus, try thy[384] 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.

_Wag._ I will, sir. _Exit._ 65

_Faust._ Their conference will be a greater help to me
Than all my labours, plod I ne’er so fast.

_Enter_ GOOD ANGEL _and_ EVIL ANGEL.

_G. Ang._ O Faustus! lay that damned book aside,
And gaze not upon it lest it tempt thy soul,
And heap God’s heavy wrath upon thy head. 70
Read, read the Scriptures: that is blasphemy.

_E. Ang._ Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art,
Wherein all Nature’s treasure is contain’d:
Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky,
Lord and commander of these elements. 75
_Exeunt_ [Angels.]

_Faust._ How am I glutted with conceit[385] of this!
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, 80
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; 85
I’ll have them wall all Germany with brass,
And make swift Rhine circle fair Wittenberg;
I’ll have them fill the public schools with [silk],[386]
Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad;
I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring, 90
And chase the Prince of Parma from our land,[387]
And reign sole king of all the provinces;
Yea, stranger engines for the brunt of war
Than was the fiery keel[388] at Antwerp’s bridge,
I’ll make my servile spirits to invent. 95
Come, German Valdes and Cornelius,
And make me blest with your sage conference.
_Enter_ VALDES _and_ CORNELIUS.[389]
Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius,
Know that your words have won me at the last
To practise magic and concealed arts: 100
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; 105
Divinity is basest of the three,
Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile:
’Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish’d me.
Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt;
And I that have with concise syllogisms 110
Gravell’d the pastors of the German church,
And made the flow’ring pride of Wittenberg
Swarm to my problems, as the infernal spirits
On sweet Musæus,[390] when he came to hell,
Will be as cunning as Agrippa was, 115
Whose shadows made all Europe honour him.

_Vald._ Faustus, these books, thy wit, and our experience
Shall make all nations to canónise us.
As Indian Moors[391] obey their Spanish lords,
So shall the subjects[392] of every element 120
Be always serviceable to us three;
Like lions shall they guard us when we please;
Like Almain rutters[393] with their horsemen’s staves,
Or Lapland giants, trotting by our sides;
Sometimes like women or unwedded maids, 125
Shadowing more beauty in their airy brows
Than have 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; 130
If learned Faustus will be resolute.

_Faust._ Valdes, as resolute am I in this
As thou to live; therefore object it not.

_Corn._ The miracles that magic will perform
Will make thee vow to study nothing else. 135
He that is grounded in astrology,
Enrich’d with tongues, well seen[394] in minerals,
Hath all the principles magic doth require.
Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowm’d,
And more frequented for this mystery 140
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; 145
Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we three want?

_Faust._ 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. 150

_Vald._ Then haste thee to some solitary grove,
And bear wise Bacon’s[395] and Albanus’s[396] works,
The Hebrew Psalter and New Testament;
And whatsoever else is requisite 154
We will inform thee ere our conference cease.

_Corn._ Valdes, first let him know the words of art;
And then, all other ceremonies learn’d,
Faustus may try his cunning by himself.

_Vald._ First I’ll instruct thee in the rudiments,
And then wilt thou be perfecter than I. 160

_Faust._ Then come and dine with me, and after meat,
We’ll canvass every quiddity[397] thereof;
For ere I sleep I’ll try what I can do:
This night I’ll conjure though I die therefore.
_Exeunt._

[SCENE II.][398]

_Enter two_ SCHOLARS.

_1 Schol._ I wonder what’s become of Faustus that was wont to make
our schools ring with _sic probo_?[399]

_2 Schol._ That shall we know, for see here comes his boy. 5

_Enter_ WAGNER.

_1 Schol._ How now, sirrah! Where’s thy master?

_Wag._ God in heaven knows!

_2 Schol._ Why, dost not thou know?

_Wag._ Yes, I know. But that follows not. 10

_1 Schol._ Go to, sirrah! Leave your jesting, and tell us where he is.

_Wag._ That follows not necessary by force of argument, that you,
being licentiate, should stand upon ’t: therefore, acknowledge your 15
error and be attentive.

_2 Schol._ Why, didst thou not say thou knew’st?

_Wag._ Have you any witness on ’t?

_1 Schol._ Yes, sirrah, I heard you. 20

_Wag._ Ask my fellow if I be a thief.

_2 Schol._ Well, you will not tell us?

_Wag._ 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
naturale_?[400] and is not that _mobile_? Then wherefore should 26
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 (30) of execution,
although I do not doubt to see you both hang’d the next sessions.
Thus having triumph’d over you, I will set my countenance like a
precisian,[401] and begin to speak thus:—Truly, my dear brethren,
my master is within at dinner, with Valdes and Cornelius, as this 36
wine, if it could speak, would inform your worships; and so the
Lord bless you, preserve you, and keep you, my dear brethren, my dear
brethren. _Exit._ 40

_1 Schol._ Nay, then, I fear he has fallen into that damned Art, for
which they two are infamous through the world.

_2 Schol._ 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 (46) by his grave counsel can reclaim him.

_1 Schol._ O, I fear me nothing can reclaim him.

_2 Schol._ Yet let us try what we can do. 50
_Exeunt._

[SCENE III.][402]

_Enter_ FAUSTUS _to conjure_.

_Faust._ 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, 5
And try if devils will obey thy hest,
Seeing thou hast pray’d and sacrific’d to them.
Within this circle is Jehovah’s name,
Forward and backward anagrammatis’d,
The breviated names of holy saints, 10
Figures of every adjunct[403] to the Heavens,
And characters of signs and erring stars,[404]
By which the spirits are enforc’d to rise:
Then fear not, Faustus, but be resolute,
And try the uttermost magic can perform. 15
_Sint mihi Dei Acherontis propitii! Valeat numen triplex Jehovae!
Ignei, aerii, aquatani spiritus, salvete! Orientis princeps Belzebub,
inferni ardentis monarcha, et Demogorgon, propitiamus vos, ut
appareat et surgat Mephistophilis. (20) Quid tu moraris? Per Jehovam,
Gehennam, et consecratum aquam quam nunc spargo, signumque crucis
quod nunc facio, et per vota nostra, ipse nunc surgat nobis dicatus
Mephistophilis!_[405] 25
_Enter_ [MEPHISTOPHILIS] _a_ Devil.
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._
I see there’s virtue in my heavenly words; 30
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.
[Now,] Faustus, thou art conjuror laureate, 35
Thou canst command great Mephistophilis:
_Quin regis Mephistophilis fratris imagine_.[406]

_Re-enter_ MEPHISTOPHILIS [_like a Franciscan Friar_].

_Meph._ Now, Faustus, what would’st thou have me do?

_Faust._ I charge thee wait upon me whilst I live,
To do whatever Faustus shall command, 40
Be it to make the moon drop from her sphere,
Or the ocean to overwhelm the world.

_Meph._ I am a servant to great Lucifer,
And may not follow thee without his leave;
No more than he commands must we perform. 45

_Faust._ Did he not charge thee to appear to me?

_Meph._ No, I came hither of mine own accord.

_Faust._ Did not my conjuring speeches raise thee? Speak:

_Meph._ That was the cause, but yet _per accidens_;
For when we hear one rack[407] the name of God,
Abjure the Scriptures and his Saviour Christ, 51
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 55
Is stoutly to abjure the Trinity,
And pray devoutly to the Prince of Hell.

_Faust._ So Faustus hath
Already done; and holds this principle,
There is no chief but only Belzebub, 60
To whom Faustus doth dedicate himself.
This word “damnation” terrifies not him,
For he confounds hell in Elysium;[408]
His ghost be with the old philosophers!
But, leaving these vain trifles of men’s souls, 65
Tell me what is that Lucifer thy lord?

_Meph._ Arch-regent and commander of all spirits.

_Faust._ Was not that Lucifer an angel once?

_Meph._ Yes, Faustus, and most dearly lov’d of God.

_Faust._ How comes it then that he is Prince of devils? 70

_Meph._ O, by aspiring pride and insolence;
For which God threw him from the face of Heaven.

_Faust._ And what are you that you live with Lucifer?

_Meph._ Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer,
Conspir’d against our God with Lucifer, 75
And are for ever damn’d with Lucifer.

_Faust._ Where are you damn’d?

_Meph._ In hell.

_Faust._ How comes it then that thou art out of hell?

_Meph._ Why this is hell, nor am I out of it. 80
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, 85
Which strike a terror to my fainting soul.

_Faust._ What, is great Mephistophilis so passionate[409]
For being depriv’d 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: 91
Seeing Faustus hath incurr’d eternal death
By desperate thoughts against Jove’s deity,
Say he surrenders up to him his soul,
So he will spare him four and twenty years, 95
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, 100
And always be obedient to my will.
Go and return to mighty Lucifer,
And meet me in my study at midnight,
And then resolve[410] me of thy master’s mind.

_Meph._ I will, Faustus. _Exit._ 105

_Faust._ 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 through the moving air,
To pass the ocean with a band of men; 110
I’ll join the hills that bind the Afric shore,
And make that [country] continent to Spain,
And both contributory to my crown.
The Emperor shall not live but by my leave,
Nor any potentate of Germany. 115
Now that I have obtain’d what I desire,
I’ll live in speculation[411] of this art
Till Mephistophilis return again. _Exit._

[SCENE IV.][412]

_Enter_ WAGNER and the CLOWN.

_Wag._ Sirrah, boy, come hither.

_Clown._ How, boy! Swowns, boy! I hope you have seen many boys with
such pickadevaunts[413] as I have. Boy, quotha!

_Wag._ Tell me, sirrah, hast thou any comings in? 6

_Clown._ Ay, and goings out too. You may see else.

_Wag._ Alas, poor slave! See how poverty jesteth in his nakedness!
The villain is bare and (10) 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! (15) Not so, good friend. By ’r Lady, I had need
have it well roasted and good sauce to it, if I pay so dear.

_Wag._ Well, wilt thou serve me, and I’ll make thee go like _Qui mihi
discipulus_?[414] 20

_Clown._ How, in verse?

_Wag._ No, sirrah; in beaten silk and stavesacre.[415]

_Clown._ How, how. Knave’s acre![416] Ay, I thought that was all the
land his father left (25) him. Do you hear? I would be sorry to rob
you of your living.

_Wag._ Sirrah, I say in stavesacre.

_Clown._ Oho! Oho! Stavesacre! Why, then, belike if I were your man I
should be full of vermin. 31

_Wag._ 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. 36

_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 [their] meat and (40) drink.

_Wag._ Well, do you hear, sirrah? Hold, take these guilders. [_Gives
money._]

_Clown._ Gridirons! what be they?

_Wag._ Why, French crowns. 45

_Clown._ 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?

_Wag._ Why, now, sirrah, thou art at an (50) hour’s warning,
whensoever and wheresoever the Devil shall fetch thee.

_Clown._ No, no. Here, take your gridirons again.

_Wag._ Truly I’ll none of them. 55

_Clown._ Truly but you shall.

_Wag._ Bear witness I gave them him.

_Clown._ Bear witness I give them you again.

_Wag._ Well, I will cause two devils presently to fetch thee
away—Baliol and Belcher. 60

_Clown._ Let your Baliol and your Belcher come here, and I’ll knock
them, they were never so knockt since they were devils. Say I should
kill one of them, what would folks say? “Do you see yonder tall
fellow in the round (65) slop?[417]—he has kill’d the devil.” So I
should be call’d Kill-devil all the parish over.

_Enter two_ DEVILS: _the_ CLOWN _runs up and down crying_.

_Wag._ Baliol and Belcher! Spirits, away! _Exeunt_ Devils.

_Clown._ What, are they gone? A vengeance on them, they have vile
long nails! There (70) 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 clifts and cloven feet.

_Wag._ Well, sirrah, follow me.

_Clown._ But, do you hear—if I should serve you, would you teach me
to raise up Banios (76) and Belcheos?

_Wag._ I will teach thee to turn thyself to anything; to a dog, or a
cat, or a mouse, or a rat, or anything. 80

_Clown._ 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 frisky flea, that I may be here and there and
everywhere. Oh, I’ll tickle (85) the pretty wenches’ plackets; I’ll
be amongst them, i’ faith.

_Wag._ Well, sirrah, come.

_Clown._ But, do you hear, Wagner?

_Wag._ How!—Baliol and Belcher! 90

_Clown._ O Lord! I pray, sir, let Banio and Belcher go sleep.

_Wag._ Villain—call me Master Wagner, and let thy left eye be
diametarily[418] fixt upon my right heel, with _quasi vestigias
nostras insistere_.[419] _Exit._

_Clown._ God forgive me, he speaks Dutch (95) fustian. Well, I’ll
follow him, I’ll serve him, that’s flat. _Exit._

[SCENE V.]

_Enter_ FAUSTUS _in his study_.

_Faust._ Now, Faustus, must
Thou needs be damn’d, and canst thou not be sav’d:
What boots it then to think of God or Heaven?
Away with such vain fancies, and despair:
Despair in God, and trust in Belzebub, 5
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.
To God?—He loves thee not— 10
The God thou serv’st is thine own appetite,
Wherein is fix’d the love of Belzebub;
To him I’ll build an altar and a church,
And offer lukewarm blood of new-born babes.

_Enter_ GOOD ANGEL and EVIL [ANGEL]

_G. Ang._ Sweet Faustus, leave that execrable art. 15

_Faust._ Contrition, prayer, repentance! What of them?

_G. Ang._ O, they are means to bring thee unto Heaven.

_E. Ang._ Rather illusions, fruits of lunacy,
That makes men foolish that do trust them most.

_G. Ang._ Sweet Faustus, think of Heaven, and heavenly things. 20

_E. Ang._ No, Faustus, think of honour and of wealth.
_Exeunt_ [ANGELS.]

_Faust._ Of wealth!
Why, the signiory of Emden[420] shall be mine.
When Mephistophilis shall stand by me,
What God can hurt thee, Faustus? Thou art safe; 25
Cast no more doubts. Come, Mephistophilis,
And bring glad tidings from great Lucifer;—
Is’t not midnight? Come, Mephistophilis;
_Veni, veni, Mephistophile!_
_Enter_ MEPHISTOPHILIS.
Now tell me, what says Lucifer thy lord? 30

_Meph._ That I shall wait on Faustus whilst he lives,
So he will buy my service with his soul.

_Faust._ Already Faustus hath hazarded that for thee.

_Meph._ But, Faustus, thou must bequeath it solemnly,
And write a deed of gift with thine own blood,
For that security craves great Lucifer. 36
If thou deny it, I will back to hell.

_Faust._ Stay, Mephistophilis! and tell me what good
Will my soul do thy lord.

_Meph._ Enlarge his kingdom.

_Faust._ Is that the reason why he tempts us thus? 40

_Meph. Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris._[421]

_Faust._ Why, have you any pain that torture others?

_Meph._ 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, 45
And give thee more than thou hast wit to ask.

_Faust._ Ay, Mephistophilis, I give it thee.

_Meph._ Then Faustus, stab thine arm courageously.
And bind thy soul that at some certain day
Great Lucifer may claim it as his own; 50
And then be thou as great as Lucifer.

_Faust._ [_stabbing his arm._] Lo, Mephistophilis, 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! 55
View here the blood that trickles from mine arm,
And let it be propitious for my wish.

_Meph._ But, Faustus, thou must
Write it in manner of a deed of gift.

_Faust._ Ay, so I will. [_Writes._] But, Mephistophilis, 60
My blood congeals, and I can write no more.

_Meph._ I’ll fetch thee fire to dissolve it straight. _Exit._

_Faust._ 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? 65
_Faustus gives to thee his soul._ Ah, there it stay’d.
Why should’st thou not? Is not thy soul thine own?
Then write again, _Faustus gives to thee his soul_.

_Re-enter_ MEPHISTOPHILIS _with a chafer of coals._

_Meph._ Here’s fire. Come, Faustus, set it on.

_Faust._ So now the blood begins to clear again; 70
Now will I make an end immediately. [_Writes._]

_Meph._ O what will not I do to obtain his soul. [_Aside._]

_Faust. Consummatum est_:[422] this bill is ended,
And Faustus hath bequeath’d his soul to Lucifer—
But what is this inscription on mine arm? 75
_Homo, fuge!_[423] Whither should I fly?
If unto God, he’ll throw me down to hell.
My senses are deceiv’d; here ’s nothing writ:—
I see it plain; here in this place is writ
_Homo, fuge!_ Yet shall not Faustus fly. 80

_Meph._ I’ll fetch him somewhat to delight his mind. _Exit._

_Re-enter_ [MEPHISTOPHILIS] _with_ Devils, _giving crowns and rich apparel to_ FAUSTUS, _and dance, and then depart_.

_Faust._ Speak, Mephistophilis, what means this show?

_Meph._ Nothing, Faustus, but to delight thy mind withal,
And to show thee what magic can perform.

_Faust._ But may I raise up spirits when I please? (85)

_Meph._ Ay, Faustus, and do greater things than these.

_Faust._ Then there’s enough for a thousand souls.
Here, Mephistophilis, receive this scroll,
A deed of gift of body and of soul:
But yet conditionally that thou perform 90
All articles prescrib’d between us both.

_Meph._ Faustus, I swear by hell and Lucifer
To effect all promises between us made.

_Faust._ Then hear me read them: _On these conditions following.
First, that Faustus may (95) be a spirit in form and substance.
Secondly, that Mephistophilis shall be his servant, and at his
command. Thirdly, that Mephistophilis shall do for him and bring him
whatsoever [he desires]. Fourthly, that he shall be in his chamber or
(100) house invisible. Lastly, that he shall appear to the said John
Faustus, at all times, in what form or shape soever he pleases. I,
John Faustus, of Wittenberg, Doctor, by these presents do give both
body and soul to Lucifer, Prince of the East, (105) and his minister,
Mephistophilis; and furthermore grant unto them, that 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 (110) habitation wheresoever. By me, John
Faustus._

_Meph._ Speak, Faustus, do you deliver this as your deed?

_Faust._ Ay, take it, and the Devil give thee good on’t.

_Meph._ Now, Faustus, ask what thou wilt. 114

_Faust._ First will I question with thee about hell.
Tell me where is the place that men call hell?

_Meph._ Under the heavens.

_Faust._ Ay, but whereabout?

_Meph._ Within the bowels of these elements,
Where we are tortur’d and remain for ever; 120
Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib’d
In one self place; for where we are is hell,
And where hell is there must we ever be:
And, to conclude, when all the world dissolves,
And every creature shall be purified, 125
All places shall be hell that is not Heaven.

_Faust._ Come, I think hell’s a fable.

_Meph._ Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind.

_Faust._ Why, think’st thou then that Faustus shall be damn’d? 129

_Meph._ Ay, of necessity, for here’s the scroll
Wherein thou hast given thy soul to Lucifer.

_Faust._ Ay, and body too; but what of that?
Think’st thou that Faustus is so fond[424] to imagine
That, after this life, there is any pain?
Tush; these are trifles, and mere old-wives’ tales. 135

_Meph._ But, Faustus, I am an instance to prove the contrary,
For I am damned, and am now in hell!