_Faustus_. I have done so, and in vain. Obey!
_Devil_. Insatiable man! But know that a devil has his bounds too.
Since our fall, we have lost the idea of these sublime secrets, and forget even the language to express them. The pure spirits of yonder world can alone sing and imagine them.
_Faustus_. Dost thou think by this crafty excuse to cheat me of that which I desire?
_Devil_. Fool! I would wish for no better revenge upon thee than to be able to paint to thy soul, in the glittering colours of Paradise, all that thou hast lost, and then see thee writhe in despair. Knew I more than I know, can the tongue formed of flesh make intelligible to the ear of flesh what lies beyond the bounds of sense, and the disembodied spirit only comprehends?
_Faustus_. Then be a spirit, and speak! Shake off this figure.
_Devil_. Wilt thou then understand me?
_Faustus_. Shake off this figure, and let me see thee as a spirit.
_Devil_. Thy words are folly. Now, then, see me: I shall exist, but not for thee; I shall speak, but thou wilt not catch my meaning.
Leviathan then melted into a thin clear flame, and disappeared.
_Faustus_. Speak, and unfold the enigma.
As the soft west wind moves along the perfumed meadows and gently kisses the tender flowers, so did it murmur around the ears of Faustus. Then the murmur changed to a loud continued tumult, which resembled the rolling of thunder, or the dash of a breaker against the coral reef, or its howl and bellow in the caves of the ocean. Faustus crept close within his circle, and with difficulty supported himself.
_Faustus_. Ah, if this be the language of spirits, my dream has vanished; I am deceived, and must gnash my teeth in darkness. I have, then, exchanged my soul for the gratification of earthly l.u.s.t! for that is all in which this intriguing devil can a.s.sist me. That is all against which I risked eternity! I thought to move among men enlightened as no one had ever yet been, and to dazzle them with my glory like the rising sun. The sublime thought of living for ever as the greatest in their hearts is gone; and I am more wretched than I was. Where art thou, trickster, that I may vent my fury upon thee?
_Devil_ (_in his former figure_). Here I am. I spoke, and thou didst not understand the sense of my words. Dost thou not feel that thou art born for darkness? Thou canst not become that which thou must not.
Withdraw thy mind from impossibilities, and direct it to what is attainable. Thou wishedst to hear the language of spirits; thou heardst it, and wert stunned and deafened by the sound.
_Faustus_. Provoke but my wrath, and I will bruise thee to tears with my magic rod. I will chain thee to the rim of my circle, and then stamp on thy neck.
_Devil_. Do it, and h.e.l.l will laugh at thy anger. For every tear thou makest me shed, Despair shall one day wring a drop of blood from thy brow, and Revenge shall hold the scales to catch and weigh it.
_Faustus_. How revolting to a n.o.ble creature like myself to hold converse with an outcast, who has only sense for wickedness, and will only a.s.sist in wickedness!
_Devil_. How disgusting to be forced to listen to a man who reproaches the Devil because he is a devil, and does not boast of that shadow, Virtue, like one of you!
_Faustus_. Vain boast. If thou couldst but taste the moral value of man, by which he approaches the immortal, and which makes him worthy of immortality!
_Devil_. I can prove that it does not exist.
_Faustus_. Yes; I believe thou canst. And so can any one of us who makes the measure of his own wickedness that of all mankind, and who makes that virtue contemptible which he has never felt in his breast. We have had philosophers who in this matter have long had the start of the Devil.
_Devil_. Better if thou hadst never read them; thy head would then have been more clear, and thy heart more sound.
_Faustus_. d.a.m.nation! Is the Devil always right?
_Devil_. I will show you that which those philosophers only talk of. I will blow away from your eyes the clouds which pride, vanity, and self-love have collected, and so charmingly coloured.
_Faustus_. How wilt thou accomplish that?
_Devil_. By conducting thee through the theatre of the world, and showing thee men in their nakedness. Let us travel by water, by land, on foot, on horseback, on the rapid winds, and see the race of man. Perhaps we may discover that for which so many thousand adventurers have broken their necks.
_Faustus_. Agreed. Let us go through the world; I must intoxicate myself by variety and enjoyment; and I have long wished for a broader sphere of observation than my own wild heart. Let us go forth, and I will force the Devil to believe in human virtue. He shall avow to me that man is the eye-apple of Him whom I now no more must name.
_Devil_. Then will I return to h.e.l.l a convicted liar, and give thee back the bond which thou wilt presently sign with thy blood.
_Faustus_. But if I were to trust a devil, who might palm upon me his own fiendish performances for the works of men, how would the scoffer laugh?
_Devil_. Such a monkish notion I should not have expected from one who has so long toyed with philosophy; but in this ye are all alike, fools and wise men. If any thing goes wrong, pride and self-love will never permit you to lay the blame on yourselves. Observe now those two words, Good and Evil, which you would fain stamp into ideas; for when you have words, you always think you have coined the empty sound into a thought.
You labour with your eyes closed, and when you open them it is but natural that the good should be your own work, and the evil that of the Devil. Thus, then, must we poor devils ride about day and night, in order to turn to this or that piece of roguery the heart or the imagination of this or that scoundrel, who, if it had not been for us, would have remained an honest fellow. Faustus! Faustus! man seeks abroad and in the clouds a thousand things which lie in his own bosom, or before his face. No; during our tour I will add to nothing, except thou command me. All that thou seest shall be the work of men; and thou wilt soon perceive that they do not require the Devil to incite them.
_Faustus_. And is this all that thou canst afford me?
_Devil_. I will lead you from step to step; when we have run through this course, another scene will immediately open. Get first acquainted with that which surrounds thee, and then mount upwards. The treasures of the earth are thine; thou mayst command my power: do but dream--do but wish.
_Faustus_. That is something.
_Devil_. Only something! Discontented being, thou shalt be able to force Leviathan to further the projects which thou callest good and n.o.ble, and the consequences of them shall be thy earnings, and the reward of thy heart.
_Faustus_. That were more, if the Devil did not say it.
_Devil_. Who can boast that he has forced the fiend to do good?
However, let this thought inflate thy bosom. Faustus, step out of the circle!
_Faustus_. It is not yet time.
_Devil_. Dost thou fear me? I repeat, thou shalt spend the moments allotted to thee according to thy own pleasure: yes, Faustus, I will fill for thee the intoxicating cup of enjoyment, as it has never been filled for any other mortal. Thy nerves shall wear away before thou hast emptied it. Count the sands of the sh.o.r.e, and thence thou mayst guess the number of joys that I will strew before thee.
Thereupon he placed a casket of gold near the circle. The figures of the mayoress and a train of lovely maidens then pa.s.sed by.
_Faustus_. Ha, devil, who has showed thee the way to my heart?
_Devil_. Is not my name Leviathan? I have weighed thee, and thy strength. Dost thou respect these?
(He shook upon the ground, from a sack, a quant.i.ty of orders of knighthood, bishops" hats, crosses of honour, and diplomas of n.o.bility.)
"No, no; I know Faustus better: knowledge and pleasure are his G.o.ds.
Remain what you are; these things are vain and futile. Thus, by different bribes may ye all be won; and for the sake of l.u.s.t or advancement, ye would work bare your hands and your intellects. But, whilst fools toil for them in the sweat of their brow, and in the exhaustion of their mind, do thou enjoy, without care or labour, what I shall serve up. To-morrow, with thy consent, I will conduct thee to the mayoress."
_Faustus_. But how?
_Devil_. Accept the conditions, and I will tell thee. Come out of the circle; thou lookest still like a drunken man.
_Faustus_. I would annihilate myself if it were not for one thought!
_Devil_. Which is--
_Faustus_. That I shall only thereby sooner fall into thy power.
_Devil_. How rash and hasty are men! Learn but to know me, and, if I cannot gratify thy wildest earthly desires, return to poverty, to contempt, and thy starving philosophy. Step forth, I say.