Dr. Faustus (with footnotes) | Page 9

Ay, and body too: but what of that? Think'st thou that
Faustus is so fond<93> 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 no<97> 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 iterating<99> 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,
"Faustus, thou art damn'd!" then swords, and knives, Poison, guns,
halters, and envenom'd steel Are laid before me to despatch myself;
And long ere this I should have slain myself, 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 ne'er repent.-- Come,
Mephistophilis, let us dispute again, And argue of divine
astrology.<100> Tell me, are there many heavens 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 spheres, Mutually folded
in each other's orb, And, Faustus, All jointly move upon one axletree,
Whose terminine is term'd the world's wide pole; Nor are the names of
Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter Feign'd, but are erring<101> stars.
FAUSTUS. But, tell me, have they all one motion, both situ et
tempore?
MEPHIST. All jointly move from east to west in twenty-four hours

upon the poles of the world; but differ in their motion upon the poles of
the zodiac.
FAUSTUS. Tush, These slender trifles Wagner can decide: Hath
Mephistophilis no greater skill? Who knows not the double motion of
the planets? The