Another.
(The same.) I for my sweetheart will buy chain and rings.
Chamberlain.
(Accepting.) Wine twice as good from this time forth I’ll drink.
Another.
(The same.) The dice already in my pocket clink.
Banneret.
(Thoughtfully.) My field and castle I from debt will free.
Another.
(The same.) I’ll lay my treasure in my treasury.
Emperor.
Courage I hoped, and joy, for new emprise —
But whoso knows you, straight will recognize;
I mark it well, though wealth be multiplied,
Just what ye were, the same will ye abide!
Fool.
(Approaching.) Favors you scatter; grant me some, I pray!
Emperor.
What, living yet? Thou’lt drink them soon away.
Fool.
These magic leaves! I comprehend not quite —
Emperor.
That I believe: them thou’lt not spend aright.
Fool.
There, others drop — I know not what to do —
Emperor.
Take them! They’ve fallen to thy share. Adieu!
[Exit.
Fool.
Five thousand crowns in hand! can it be true?
Mephis.
Thou two-legg’d paunch, art thou then risen anew?
Fool.
As oft before, ne’er happily as now.
Mephis.
So great thy joy, it makes thee sweat, I trow.
Fool.
Is this indeed worth money? art thou sure?
Mephis.
What throat and paunch desire it will procure.
Fool.
Can I then field, and house, and cattle buy?
Mephis.
Of course! Bid only, thee it will not fail.
Fool.
Castle with forest, chase, and fishpond?
Mephis.
Ay!
Thee as your worship I should like to hail!
Fool.
As land-owner I’ll rock myself ere eve!
[Exit.
Mephis.
In our fool’s wit who will not now believe?
Dark Gallery.
Faust. Mephistopheles.
Mephis.
Why drag me these dark corridors along?
Within hast not enough of sport?
Occasion ‘mid the motley throng
For jest and lie, hast not at court?
Faust.
Speak not of that; in days of old hast thou
Outworn it to the very soles. But now,
Thy shuffling is a mere pretext
How to evade my questions. Sore perplex’d,
I know not how to act, or what to do;
The marshal urges me, the steward too,
The Emperor wills it — hence it straight must be —
Wills Helena and Paris here to see;
Of man and womankind the true ideal,
He fain would view, in forms distinct and real.
Quick to the work! My word I may not break.
Mephis.
Such promise it was weak, nay, mad to make.
Faust.
Comrade, thou hast not thought, I trow,
Whither these arts of thine must lead:
First we have made him rich, and now
Him to amuse we must proceed.
Mephis.
Thou think’st no sooner said than done;
Here before steeper steps we stand,
A foreign realm must here be won,
New debts wilt add to those of old.
With the same ease dost think I can command
Helen, as phantom-notes evoke for gold!
With wizard, witchery, or ghostly ghost,
Or goiter’d dwarf, I’m ready at my post,
But Devil’s darlings, though we mayn’t abuse them,
Yet cannot we as heroines produce them.
Faust.
Still harping on the ancient lyre!
The father thou of hindrances; — with thee
We needs must fall into uncertainty;
For each expedient thou dost claim new hire!
With little muttering, I know, ’tis done;
Ere one looks round, thou’lt bring them to the spot.
Mephis.
The Heathen-folk I’m glad to let alone,
In their own hell is cast their lot;
Yet are there means —
Faust.
Speak quickly, naught withhold!
Mephis.
Loth am I higher secrets to unfold.
In solitude, where reigns nor space nor time,
Are goddesses enthron’d from early prime;
’Tis hard to speak of beings so sublime —
The Mothers are they.
Faust.
(Terrified.) Mothers!
Mephis.
Tremblest thou?
Faust.
The Mothers! Mothers! strange it sounds, I trow!
Mephis.
And is so: Goddesses, to men unknown,
And by us nam’d unwillingly, I own.
Their home to reach, full deeply must thou mine.
That we have need of them, the fault is thine!
Faust.
The way?
Mephis.
No way; to the untrodden none,
Not to be trodden, neither to be won
By prayer! Art ready for the great emprise?
No locks are there, no bolts thy way to bar;
By solitudes shalt thou be whirl’d afar:
Such void and solitude canst realize?
Faust.
To spare such speeches, it were well!
They of the witches’ kitchen smell,
And of a time long past and gone.
To know the world have I not sought?
The empty learn’d, the empty taught? —
Spake I out plainly, as in reason bound,
Then doubly loud the paradox would sound;
By Fortune’s adverse buffets overborne,
To solitude I fled, to wilds forlorn,
And not in utter loneliness to live,
Myself at last did to the Devil give!
Mephis.
And hadst thou swum to ocean’s utmost verge,
And there the shoreless infinite beheld,
There hadst thou seen surge rolling upon surge,
Though dread of coming doom thy soul had quell’d,
Thou hadst seen something; — dolphins thou hadst seen.
Cleaving the silent sea’s pellucid green,
And flying cloud hadst seen, sun, moon and star;
Naught, in the everlasting void afar,
Wilt see, nor hear thy footfall’s sound,
Nor for thy tread find solid ground!
Faust.
Thou speakest as of mystagogues the first,
True neophytes who gulled — only revers’d:
I to vacuity by thee am sent,
That art as well as strength I may augment;
Thou wouldest, like the cat, make use of me,
The chestnuts from the fire to snatch for thee.
We’ll fathom it! come on, nor look behind!
In this thy naught, the All I hope to find.
Mephis.
Before we part, thy bearing I commend;
I see, the Devil thou dost comprehend.
Here, take this key!
Faust.
That little thing!
Mephis.
First hold it fast, not lightly valuing!
Faust.
It waxes in my hand! It flashes, glows!
Mephis.
Soon shalt thou mark what virtue it bestows.
The key will scent the very place you need;
Follow, thee to the Mothers it will lead.
Faust.
(Shuddering.) The Mothers! Like
a blow it strikes mine ear!
What is this word, it troubles me to hear?
Mephis.
So narrow-minded, scar’d by each new word!
Wilt only hear, what hast already heard?
Inur’d to marvels, thee let naught astound;
Be not disturb’d, how strange soe’er the sound!
Faust.
My weal I seek not in torpidity;
Humanity’s best part in awe doth lie:
Howe’er the world the sentiment disown,
Once seiz’d — we deeply feel the vast, the unknown.
Mephis.
Sink then! Arise! This also I might say: —
’Tis all the same. Escaping from the real,
Seek thou the boundless realm of the ideal.
Delight thyself in forms long pass’d away!
The train, like cloud-procession, glides along;
Swing thou the key, hold off the shadowy throng!
Faust.
(Inspired. ) Good! firmly grasping it, new strength is mine,
My breast expands! Now for the great design!
Mephis.
A glowing tripod teaches thee thou hast
The deep attain’d, the lowest deep, at last:
There, by its light the Mothers thou wilt see;
Some sit, while others, as the case may be,
Or stand, or walk: formation, transformation,
Of mind etern, eternal recreation!
While forms of being round them hover; thee
Behold they not, phantoms alone they see.
Take courage, for the danger is not slight.
Straight to the tripod press thou on, be brave,
And touch it with the key —
[Faust,with the key, assumes an attitude of determined authority.
Mephis.
(Observing him.) So, that is right!
It cleaves to thee, it follows like a slave;
Calmly dost mount, fortune doth thee upbear,
Back art thou with it, ere they are aware.
And hither hast thou brought it: by its might,
Hero mayst call, and heroine from night;
The first to venture in such enterprise;
’Tis done — with thee the bold achievement lies;
And then by spells, to sorcery allow’d,
To gods shall be transform’d the incensecloud.
Faust.
And now what next?
Mephis.
Downward thy being strain.
Stamping descend, stamping thou’lt rise again.
[Fauststamps and sinks.
In his behoof if worketh but the key!
Whether he will return, I’m fain to see.
Hall.(Brilliantly lighted.)
Emperorand Princes: The Court in movement.
Chamberlain.
(To Mephistopheles.)
You’re still our debtors for the spirit-show;
To work! The Emperor doth impatient grow.
Steward.
His Highness even now hath question’d me;
Delay not, nor affront his Majesty!
Mephis.
My comrade’s for that very purpose gone;
How to commence he knows; he labors on,
Secluded in his study, calm and still,
With mind intensely strung; for who the prize,
Ideal beauty, would evoke at will,
Needs highest art, the magic of the wise.
Steward.
To us it matters not what arts you need;
The Emperor wills that ye forthwith proceed.
A Blonde.
(To Mephistopheles.)
One word, good sir! My visage now is clear —
It is not so when baleful summer’s here:
Then sprout a hundred freckles, brown and red,
Which, to my grief, the white skin overspread.
A cure!
Mephis.
’Tis pity, face so fair to see,
In May like panther’s cub should mottled be!
Take spawn of frog, and tongue of toad, the twain
Under the fullest moon distil with care;
Lay on the mixture, when the moon doth wane —
The spring arrives, no blemishes are there.
Brunette.
To fawn upon you, how the crowds advance;
A remedy I ask! A frozen foot
Hinders me sorely when I walk or dance;
Awkward my movement e’en when I salute.
Mephis.
A single tread allow me with my foot!
Brunette.
Well, betwixt lovers that might come to pass —
Mephis.
A deeper meaning, child, my footprint has:
Like unto like, in sickness is the rede;
Foot healeth foot; with every limb ’tis so.
Draw near! Give heed! My tread return not.
Brunette.
(Screaming.) Woe!
Ah, woe! It burns! A hard tread that indeed,
Like horse’s hoof!
Mephis.
Receive thy cure as meed.
Now mayst thou dance at pleasure; and salute,
Beneath the festal board, thy lover’s foot.
Lady.
(Pressing forward.) Make way for me, too grievous is my smart,
Seething, it rankles in my deepest heart:
Bliss in my looks he sought till yesterday —
With her he talks, and turns from me away!
Mephis.
The case is grave, but this my lore receive:
Thou to his side must stealthily make way;
Take thou this coal, a mark upon his sleeve,
His cloak, or shoulder make, as happen may —
His heart repentant will be thine once more;
The coal thou straight must swallow; after it,
No water near thy lip, no wine, permit —
This very night he’ll sigh before thy door.
Lady.
It is not poison?
Mephis.
(Offended.) Honor where ’tis due!
You for such coal much ground must wander o’er;
It cometh from a pyre, that we of yore
More fiercely stirr’d than now we do.
Page.
I love; as still unripe they scorn my youth!
Mephis.
(Aside.) I know not whom to listen to, in sooth.
(To the Page.)
Not on the youngest set your happiness;
Those more in years your merits will confess.
[Others press up to him.
Others are coming! What a fearful rout!
Myself with truth I must at last help out —
The sorriest shift! Great is the need! Ah me!
Mothers, Mothers! Only Faust set free.
[Looking round.
The lights are burning dimly in the hall;
At once the court is moving, one and all;
Advancing in due order them I see,
Through long arcade and distant gallery;
Now in the old Baronial hall, the train
Assemble, them it scarcely can contain;
Its ample walls rare tapestries enrich,
While armor decks each corner, every niche;
Here magic-words, methinks, are needed not,
Ghosts, of their own accord, would haunt this spot.
Baronial Hall.(Dimly illuminated.)
Emperorand Court have entered.
Herald.
Mine ancient usage, to announce the play,
The spirits’ secret working mars; in vain
The surging tumult to ourselves, to-day,
Would we, on reasonable grounds, explain.
Seats are arrang’d, ready is every chair;
The Emperor sits before the wall, and there,
On tapestry in comfort may behold
The battles of the glorious days of old.
All now are seated; prince
and court around;
While crowded benches fill the hinder ground;
Your lovers too, in these dark hours, will find,
Beside their sweethearts, places to their mind.
So now we’re seated, ready for the play;
The phantoms may appear, without delay!
[Trumpets.
Astrologer.
Now let the drama, ’tis the Sire’s command,
Begin forthwith its course! ye walls expand!
Naught hinders; magic yields what we require.
The curtains vanish, as uproll’d by fire;
The wall splits open, backward it doth wend;
An ample theatre appears to rise;
A mystic lustre gleams before our eyes;
And I to the proscenium ascend.
Mephis.
(Emerging from the prompter’s box.) I hope for general favor in your eyes,
The Devil’s rhetoric in prompting lies!
(To the Astrologer.)
The time dost know, in which the stars proceed,
And, like a master, wilt my whispering read.
Astrologer.
Through magic power, appears before our gaze,
Massive enough, a fane of ancient days;
Like Atlas, who of old the heavens upbare,
Columns, in goodly rows, are standing there;
They for their burden may suffice, when twain
A mighty edifice might well sustain.
Architect.
That the antique — I cannot think it right;
It as unwieldy we should designate;
The rude is noble styled, the clumsy great!
Slim shafts I love, aspiring, infinite;
The pointed zenith lifts the soul on high;
Such building us doth mostly edify.
Astrologer.
Receive with reverence stargranted hours!
By magic word enthrall’d be reason’s powers;
Here, on the other hand, let phantasy,
Noble and daring, roam more wildly free!
What boldly you desir’d, he with your eyes perceiv’d!
Impossible, and hence, by faith to be believ’d.
[Faustrises at the other side of the proscenium.
Astrologer.
In priestly vesture, crown’d, a wondrous man,
Who now achieves, what trustful he began;
A tripod with him from the gulf ascends;
With the surrounding air the incense blends;
He arms himself, the lofty work to bless:
Henceforth we naught can augur but success.
Faust.
In your name, Mothers, ye who on your throne
Dwell in the Infinite, for aye alone,
Yet sociably! Around your heads are rife
Life’s pictures, restless, yet devoid of life;
What was, there moveth, bright with lustrous sheen;
For deathless will abide what once hath been.
This ye dispense, beings of matchless might,
To day’s pavilion, to the vault of night:
Life in its gentle course doth some arrest;
Of others the bold magian goes in quest:
Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Page 242