THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS


By Christopher Marlowe


Persons In The Play

CHORUS
Doctor FAUSTUS
WAGNER, his Servant
GOOD, and EVIL ANGEL
VALDES and CORNELIUS, Conjurors
Three Scholars
MEPHISTOPHILIS, a Devil
The CLOWN
BALIOL, BELCHER, LUCIFER, BELZEBUB and Other Devils
The Seven Deadly SINS
The POPE
CARDINAL OF LORRAIN
FRIARS
ROBIN, the Ostler
RAFE
A VINTNER
The EMPEROR
A KNIGHT and Attendants
Spirits Of ALEXANDER and his PARAMOUR
A HORSE-COURSER
THE DUKE of Vanholt and his DUCHESS
An OLD MAN
The Spirit of HELEN OF TROY

Scene: Mainly the Study of Doctor Faustus; otherwise a Grove, the Pope's 
Privy-Chamber at Rome, the Courts of the Emperor and the Duke of Vanholt 
and elsewhere.



Enter CHORUS

Chorus	Not marching now in fields of Trasimene,
Where Mars did mate the Carthaginians;
Nor sporting in the dalliance of love,
In courts of kings where state is overturned;
Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds,
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,
And speak for Faustus in his infancy.
Now is he born, his parents base of stock,
In Germany, within a town called Rhodes;
Of riper years to Wittenberg he went,
Whereas his kinsmen chiefly brought him up.
So soon he profits in divinity,
The fruitful plot of scholarism graced,
That shortly he was graced with doctor's name,
Excelling all whose sweet delight disputes
In heavenly matters of theology;
Till swollen with cunning, of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And, melting, heavens conspired his overthrow;
For, falling to a devilish exercise,
And glutted now with learning's golden gifts,
He surfeits upon cursed necromancy.
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 1

Enter FAUSTUS in his Study

Faustus	Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin
To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess;
Having commenced, be a divine in show,
Yet level at the end of every art,
And live and die in Aristotle's works.
Sweet Analytics, 'tis thou hast ravished me -
[Reads] Bene dissere est finis logices. -
Is to dispute well logic's chiefest end?
Affords this art no greater miracle?
Then read no more, thou hast attained the end;
A greater subject fitteth Faustus' wit:
Bid ** *** ** ** farewell; Galen come,
Seeing Ubi desinit philosophus ibi incipit medicus;
Be a physician, Faustus, heap up gold,
And be eternized for some wondrous cure.
[Reads] Summum bonum medicinae sanitas, -
The end of physic is our body's health.
Why, Faustus, hast thou not attained that end?
Is not thy common talk sound aphorisms?
Are not thy bills hung up as monuments,
Whereby whole cities have escaped the plague,
And thousand desperate maladies been eased?
Yet art thou still but Faustus and a man.
Wouldst thou make men to live eternally,
Or, being dead, raise them to life again,
Then this profession were to be esteemed.
Physic, farewell. - Where is Justinian?
[Reads] Si una eademque res legatur duobus, alter rem, alter valorem rei, 
etc. -
A pretty case of paltry legacies!
[Reads] Exhaereditare filium non potest pater nisi, etc. -Such is the 
subject of the Institute
And universal body of the law.
His study fits a mercenary drudge,
Who aims at nothing but external trash;
Too servile and illiberal for me.
When all is done divinity is best;
Jerome's Bible, Faustus, view it well.
[Reads] Stipendium peccati mors est. Ha! Stipendium, etc.
The reward of sin is death. That's hard
[Reads] Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis veritas. -
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,
What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu!
These metaphysics of magicians
And necromantic books are heavenly:
Lines, circles, scenes, letters, and characters:
Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.
O, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence
Is promised 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,
Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds;
But his dominion that exceeds in this
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man,
A sound magician is a mighty god:
Here, Faustus, try thy 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.

Wagner	I will, sir.

Exit

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

Enter the GOOD ANGEL and the EVIL ANGEL

Good Angel	O Faustus! lay that damned book aside,
And gaze not on it lest it tempt thy soul,
And heap God's heavy wrath upon thy head.
Read, read the Scriptures: that is blasphemy.

Evil Angel	Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art,
Wherein all Nature's treasure is contained:
Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky,
Lord and commander of these elements.

Exeunt Angels

Faustus	How am I glutted with conceit 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,
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;
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,
Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad;
I'll levy soldiers with the coin they bring,
And chase the Prince of Parma from our land,
And reign sole king of all the provinces;
Yea, stranger engines for the brunt of war
Than was the fiery keel at Antwerp's bridge,
I'll make my servile spirits to invent.

Enter VALDES and CORNELIUS

Come, German Valdes and Cornelius,
And make me blest with your sage conference.
Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius,
Know that your words have won me at the last
To practise magic and concealed arts:
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;
Divinity is basest of the three,
Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile:
'Tis magic, magic that hath ravished me.
Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt;
And I that have with concise syllogisms
Gravelled the pastors of the German church,
And made the flowering pride of Wittenberg
Swarm to my problems, as the infernal spirits
On sweet Musaeus, when he came to hell,
Will be as cunning as Agrippa was,
Whose shadows made all Europe honour him.

Valdes	Faustus, these books, thy wit, and our experience
Shall make all nations to canonize us.
As Indian Moors obey their Spanish lords,
So shall the spirits of every element
Be always serviceable to us three;
Like lions shall they guard us when we please;
Like Almain rutters with their horsemen's staves
Or Lapland giants, trotting by our sides;
Sometimes like women or unwedded maids,
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;
If learned Faustus will be resolute.

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

Cornelius	The miracles that magic will perform
Will make thee vow to study nothing else.
He that is grounded in astrology,
Enriched with tongues, well seen in minerals,
Hath all the principles magic doth require.
Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowned,
And more frequented for this mystery
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;
Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we three want?

Faustus	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.

Valdes	Then haste thee to some solitary grove,
And bear wise Bacon's and Albanus' works,
The Hebrew Psalter and New Testament;
And whatsoever else is requisite
We will inform thee ere our conference cease.

Cornelius	Valdes, first let him know the words of art;
And then, all other ceremonies learned,
Faustus may try his cunning by himself.

Valdes	First I'll instruct thee in the rudiments,
And then wilt thou be perfecter than I.

Faustus	Then come and dine with me, and after meat,
We'll canvass every quiddity thereof;
For ere I sleep I'll try what I can do:
This night I'll conjure tho' I die therefore.

Exeunt



Scene 2

Before Faustus' House

Enter two SCHOLARS

1st Scholar	I wonder what's become of Faustus that was wont to make our 
schools ring with sic probo?

2nd Scholar	That shall we know, for see here comes his boy.

Enter WAGNER

1st Scholar	How now, sirrah! Where's thy master?

Wagner	God in heaven knows!

2nd Scholar	Why, dost not thou know?

Wagner	Yes, I know. But that follows not.

1st Scholar	Go to, sirrah! leave your jesting, and tell us where he is.

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

2nd Scholar	Why, didst thou not say thou knewest?

Wagner	Have you any witness on't?

1st Scholar	Yes, sirrah, I heard you.

Wagner	Ask my fellow if I be a thief.

2nd Scholar	Well, you will not tell us?

Wagner	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? and is not 
that mobile? then wherefore should 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 feet of the place of 
execution, although I do not doubt to see you both hanged the next 
sessions. Thus having triumphed over you, I will set my countenance like a 
precisian, and begin to speak thus: Truly, my dear brethren, my master is 
within at dinner, with Valdes and Cornelius, as this 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

1st Scholar	Nay, then I fear he has fallen into that damned art, for which 
they two are infamous through the world.

2nd Scholar	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 by his 
grave counsel can reclaim him.

1st Scholar	O, but I fear me nothing can reclaim him.

2nd Scholar	Yet let us try what we can do.

Exeunt


Scene 3

Enter FAUSTUS to conjure [in a grove]

Faustus	Now that the gloomy shadow of the earth
Longing to view Orion's drizzling look,
Leaps from the antarctic world unto the sky,
And dims the welkin with her pitchy breath,
Faustus, begin thine incantations,
And try if devils will obey thy hest,
Seeing thou hast prayed and sacrificed to them.
Within this circle is Jehovah's name,
Forward and backward anagrammatized,
The breviated names of holy saints,
Figures of every adjunct to the heavens,
And characters of signs and erring stars,
By which the spirits are enforced to rise:
Then fear not, Faustus, but be resolute,
And try the uttermost magic can perform.

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 surgate 
Mephistophilis. Quid tu moraris? per Jehovam, Gehennam, et consecratam 
aquam quam nunc spargo, signumque crucis quod nunc facio, et per vota 
nostra, ipse nunc surgat nobis dicatus Mephistophilis!

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;
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 are conjuror laureat,
That canst command great Mephistophilis:
Quin regis Mephistophilis fratris imagine.

Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS like a Franciscan Friar

Mephistophilis	Now, Faustus, what wouldst thou have me to do?

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

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

Faustus	Did not he charge thee to appear to me?

Mephistophilis	No, I came hither of mine own accord.

Faustus	Did not my conjuring speeches raise thee? Speak.

Mephistophilis	That was the cause, but yet per accidens;
For when we hear one rack the name of God,
Abjure the Scriptures and his Saviour Christ,
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 damned:
Therefore the shortest cut for conjuring
Is stoutly to abjure the Trinity,
And pray devoutly to the Prince of Hell.

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

Mephistophilis	Arch-regent and commander of all spirits.

Faustus	Was not that Lucifer an angel once?

Mephistophilis	Yes, Faustus, and most dearly loved of God.

Faustus	How comes it then that he is prince of devils?

Mephistophilis	O, by aspiring pride and insolence;
For which God threw him from the face of heaven.

Faustus	And what are you that live with Lucifer?

Mephistophilis	Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer,
Conspired against our God with Lucifer,
And are for ever damned with Lucifer.

Faustus	Where are you damned?

Mephistophilis	In hell.

Faustus	How comes it then that thou are out of hell?

Mephistophilis	Why this is hell, nor am I out of it:
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 deprived of everlasting bliss?
O Faustus! leave these frivolous demands,
Which strike a terror to my fainting soul.

Faustus	What, is great Mephistophilis so passionate
For being deprived 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:
Seeing Faustus hath incurred 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,
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,
And always be obedient to my will.
Go and return to mighty Lucifer,
And meet me in my study at midnight,
And then resolve me of thy master's mind.

Mephistophilis	I will, Faustus.

Exit

Faustus	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 thorough the moving air,
To pass the ocean with a band of men:
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.
Now that I have obtained what I desire,
I'll live in speculation of this art
Till Mephistophilis return again.
Exit



Scene 4

Before Faustus' house

Enter WAGNER and CLOWN

Wagner	Sirrah, boy, come hither.

Clown	How, boy! Swowns, boy! I hope you have seen many boys with such 
pickadevaunts as I have; boy, quotha.

Wagner	Tell me, sirrah, hast thou any comings in?

Clown	Ay, and goings out too. You may see else.

Wagner	Alas, poor slave! see how poverty jesteth in his nakedness! The 
villain is bare and out of service, and so hungry that I know he would give 
his soul to the Devil for a shoulder of mutton though 'twere blood-raw.

Clown	How? My soul to the Devil for a shoulder of mutton, though 'twere 
blood-raw! Not so, good friend. By'r-lady, I had need have it well roasted 
and good sauce to it, if I pay so dear.

Wagner	Well, wilt thou serve me, and I'll make thee go like Qui mihi 
discipulus?

Clown	How, in verse?

Wagner	No, sirrah; in beaten silk and stavesacre.

Clown	How, how, Knave's acre! Ay, I thought that was all the land his 
father left him. Do you hear? I would be sorry to rob you of your living.

Wagner	Sirrah, I say in stavesacre.

Clown	Oho! Oho! Stavesacre! Why then belike if I were your man I should be 
full of vermin.

Wagner	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.

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 drink.

Wagner	Well, do you hear, sirrah? Hold, take these guilders.

Gives money

Clown	Gridirons! what be they?

Wagner	Why, French crowns.

Clown	Mass, but in the name of French crowns, a man were as good have as 
many English counters. And what should I do with these?

Wagner	Why, now, sirrah, thou art at an hour's warning, whensoever and 
wheresoever the Devil shall fetch thee.

Clown	No, no. Here, take your gridirons again.

Wagner	Truly I'll none of them.

Clown	Truly but you shall.

Wagner	Bear witness I gave them him.

Clown	Bear witness I give them you again.

Wagner	Well, I will cause two devils presently to fetch thee away - Baliol 
and Belcher!

Clown	Let your Baliol and your Belcher come here, and I'll knock them, they 
were never so knocked since they were devils! Say I should kill one of 
them, what would folks say? "Do you see yonder tall fellow in the round 
slop - he has killed the devil." So I should be called Kill-devil all the 
parish over.

Enter two DEVILS: the CLOWN runs up and down crying

Wagner	Baliol and Belcher! Spirits, away!

Exeunt Devils

Clown	What, are they gone? A vengeance on them, they have vile long nails! 
There 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.

Wagner	Well, sirrah, follow me.

Clown	But, do you hear - if I should serve you, would you teach me to raise 
up Banios and Belcheos?

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

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 frisking flea, that I may be here and there and everywhere. O, I'll 
tickle the pretty wenches' plackets; I'll be amongst them, i' faith.

Wagner	Well, sirrah, come.

Clown	But, do you hear, Wagner?

Wagner	How! Baliol and Belcher!

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

Wagner	Villain - call me Master Wagner, and let thy eye be diametarily 
fixed upon my right heel, with quasi vestigiis nostris insistere.

Exit

Clown	God forgive me, he speaks Dutch fustian. Well, I'll follow him: I'll 
serve him, that's flat.

Exit



Scene 5

Enter FAUSTUS in his Study

Faustus	Now, Faustus, must
Thou needs be damned, and canst thou not be saved:
What boots it then to think of God or heaven?
Away with such vain fancies, and despair:
Despair in God, and trust in Belzebub;
Now go not backward: no, Faustus, be resolute:
Why waver'st 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 -
The God thou serv'st is thine own appetite,
Wherein is fixed 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

Good Angel	Sweet Faustus, leave that execrable art.

Faustus	Contrition, prayer, repentance! What of them?

Good Angel	O, they are means to bring thee unto heaven.

Evil Angel	Rather, illusions - fruits of lunacy,
That makes men foolish that do trust them most.

Good Angel	Sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things.

Evil Angel	No, Faustus, think of honour and of wealth.

Exeunt Angels

Faustus	Of wealth!
Why the signiory of Embden shall be mine.
When Mephistophilis shall stand by me,
What God can hurt thee? Faustus, thou are safe:
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?

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

Faustus	Already Faustus hath hazarded that for thee.

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

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

Mephistophilis	Enlarge his kingdom.

Faustus	Is that the reason why he tempts us thus?

Mephistophilis	Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris.

Faustus	Why, have you any pain that tortures others?

Mephistophilis	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,
And give thee more than thou hast wit to ask

Faustus	Ay, Mephistophilis, I give it thee.

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

Faustus	[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!
View here the blood that trickles from mine arm,
And let it be propitious for my wish.

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

Faustus	Ay, so I will. [Writes] But, Mephistophilis,
My blood congeals, and I can write no more.

Mephistophilis	I'll fetch thee fire to dissolve it straight.

Exit

Faustus	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?
Faustus gives to thee his soul. Ah, there it stayed.
Why shouldst thou not? Is not thy soul thine own?
Then write again, Faustus gives to thee his soul.

Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with a chafer of coals

Mephistophilis	Here's fire. Come, Faustus, set it on.

Faustus	So now the blood begins to clear again;
Now will I make an end immediately.

Writes

Mephistophilis	[Aside] O, what will not I do to obtain his soul.

Faustus	Consummatum est: this bill is ended,
And Faustus hath bequeathed his soul to Lucifer.
But what is this inscription on mine arm?
Homo, fuge! Whither should I fly?
If unto God, he'll throw me down to hell.
My senses are deceived; here's nothing writ -
I see it plain; here in this place is writ
Homo, fuge! Yet shall not Faustus fly.

Mephistophilis	I'll fetch him somewhat to delight his mind.

Exit

Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with DEVILS, giving crowns and rich apparel to 
FAUSTUS, and dance, and then depart

Faustus	Speak, Mephistophilis, what means this show?

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

Faustus	But may I raise up spirits when I please?

Mephistophilis	Ay, Faustus, and do greater things than these.

Faustus	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
All articles prescribed between us both.

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

Faustus	Then hear me read them: On these conditions following. First, that 
Faustus may 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. Fourthly, that he 
shall be in his chamber or house invisible. Lastly that he shall appear to 
the said John Faustus, at all times, in what form or shape soever he 
please. I, John Faustus, of Wittenberg, 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 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.

Mephistophilis	Speak, Faustus, do you deliver this as your deed?

Faustus	Ay, take it, and the Devil give thee good on't!

Mephistophilis	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?

Mephistophilis	Under the heavens.

Faustus	Ay, but whereabout?

Mephistophilis	Within the bowels of these elements,
Where we are tortured and remain for ever;
Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscibed
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,
All places shall be hell that is not heaven.

Faustus	Come, I think hell's a fable.

Mephistophilis	Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind.

Faustus	Why, think'st thou then that Faustus shall be damned?

Mephistophilis	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 fond to imagine
That, after this life, there is any pain?
Tush; these are trifles, and mere old wives' tales.

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

Faustus	How! now in hell?
Nay, an this be hell, I'll willingly be damned here;
What? walking, disputing, etc.?
But, leaving off this, let me have a wife,
The fairest maid in Germany;
For I am wanton and lascivious,
And cannot live without a wife.

Mephistophilis	How - a wife?
I prithee, Faustus, talk not of a wife.

Faustus	Nay, sweet Mephistophilis, fetch me one, for I will have one.

Mephistophilis	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 dressed like a woman, with fireworks

Mephistophilis	Tell me, Faustus, how dost thou like thy wife?

Faustus	A plague on her for a hot whore!

Mephistophilis	Tut, Faustus,
Marriage is but a ceremonial toy;
And if thou lovest me, think no more of it.
I'll cull thee out the fairest courtesans,
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,
And as wise as Saba, or as beautiful
As was bright Lucifer before his fall.
Here, take this book, peruse it thoroughly:

Gives a book

The iterating 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.

Mephistophilis	Here they are, in this book.

There turn 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.

Mephistophilis	Here they are too.

Turn 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.

Mephistophilis	Here they be.

Faustus	O, thou art deceived.

Mephistophilis	Tut, I warrant thee.

Turn to them.
Exeunt


Scene 6

Enter FAUSTUS in his Study, and MEPHISTOPHILIS

Faustus	When I behold the heavens, then I repent,
And curse thee, wicked Mephistophilis,
Because thou hast deprived me of those joys.

Mephistophilis	Why, Faustus,
Think'st 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?

Mephistophilis	'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 my 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 hardened I cannot repent.
Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven,
But fearful echoes thunder in mine ears
"Faustus, thou are damned!" Then swords and knives,
Poison, gun, halters, and envenomed steel
Are laid before me to dispatch myself,
And long ere this I should have slain myself,
Had not sweet pleasure conquered 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 resolved: Faustus shall ne'er repent -
Come, Mephistophilis, let us dispute again,
And argue of divine astrology.
Tell me, are there many heavens above the moon?
Are all celestial bodies but one globe,
As is the substance of this centric earth?

Mephistophilis	As are the elements, such are the spheres
Mutually folded in each other's orb,
And, Faustus,
All jointly move upon one axle-tree
Whose terminine is termed the world's wide pole;
Nor are the names of Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter
Feigned, but are erring stars.

Faustus	But tell me, have they all one motion both, situ et tempore?

Mephistophilis	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 first is finished in a natural day;
The second thus: as Saturn in thirty years;
Jupiter in twelve; Mars in four; the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in a year; the 
moon in twenty-eight days. Tush, these are freshmen's suppositions. But 
tell me, hath every sphere a dominion or intelligentia?

Mephistophilis	Ay.

Faustus	How many heavens, or spheres, are there?

Mephistophilis	Nine: the seven planets, the firmament, and the empyreal 
heaven.

Faustus	Well, resolve me in this question: Why have we not conjunctions, 
oppositions, aspects, eclipses, all at one time, but in some years we have 
more, in some less?

Mephistophilis	Per inaequalem motum respectu totius.

Faustus	Well, I am answered. Tell me who made the world.

Mephistophilis	I will not.

Faustus	Sweet Mephistophilis, tell me.

Mephistophilis	Move me not, for I will not tell thee.

Faustus	Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me anything?

Mephistophilis	Ay, that is not against our kingdom; but this is. Think thou 
on hell, Faustus, for thou art damned.

Faustus	Think, Faustus, upon God that made the world.

Mephistophilis	Remember this.

Exit

Faustus	Ay, go, accursed spirit, to ugly hell. 'Tis thou hast damned 
distressed Faustus' soul. Is't not too late?

Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL

Evil Angel	Too late.

Good Angel	Never too late, if Faustus can repent.

Evil Angel	If thou repent, devils shall tear thee in pieces.

Good Angel	Repent, and they shall never raze thy skin.

Exeunt Angels

Faustus	Ah, Christ my Saviour,
Seek to save distressed Faustus' soul!

Enter LUCIFER, BELZEBUB, and MEPHISTOPHILIS

Lucifer	Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just;
There's none but I have interest in the same.

Faustus	O, who art thou that look'st so terrible?

Lucifer	I am Lucifer, And this is my companion-prince in hell.

Faustus	O Faustus! they are come to fetch away thy soul!

Lucifer	We come to tell thee thou dost injure us;
Thou talk'st of Christ contrary to thy promise;
Thou shouldst not think of God: think of the Devil.

Belzebub	And his dam, too.

Faustus	Nor will I henceforth: pardon me in this,
And Faustus vows never to look to heaven,
Never to name God, or to pray to him,
To burn his Scriptures, slay his ministers,
And make my spirits pull his churches down.

Lucifer	Do so and we will highly gratify thee. Faustus, we are come from 
hell to show thee some pastime: sit down, and thou shalt see all the Seven 
Deadly Sins appear in their proper shapes.

Faustus	That sight will be as pleasing unto me,
As Paradise was to Adam the first day
Of his creation.

Lucifer	Talk not of Paradise nor creation, but mark this show: talk of the 
Devil, and nothing else: come away!

Enter the SEVEN DEADLY SINS.

Now, Faustus, examine them of their several names and dispositions.

Faustus	What art thou - the first?

Pride	I am Pride. I disdain to have any parents. I am like to Ovid's flea: 
I can creep into every corner of a wench; sometimes, like a periwig, I sit 
upon her brow; or like a fan of feathers, I kiss her lips; indeed I do - 
what do I not? But, fie, what a scent is here! I'll not speak another word, 
except the ground were perfumed, and covered with cloth of arras.

Faustus	What art thou - the second?

Covetousness	I am Covetousness, begotten of an old churl in an old leathern 
bag; and, might I have my wish, I would desire that this house and all the 
people in it were turned to gold, that I might lock you up in my good 
chest. O, my sweet gold!

Faustus	What art thou - the third?

Wrath	I am Wrath. I had neither father nor mother; I leapt out of a lion's 
mouth when I was scarce half an hour old; and ever since I have run up and 
down the world with this case of rapiers, wounding myself when I had nobody 
to fight withal. I was born in hell; and look to it, for some of you shall 
be my father.

Faustus	What art thou - the fourth?

Envy	I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. I cannot 
read, and therefore wish all books were burnt. I am lean with seeing others 
eat. O, that there would come a famine through all the world, that all 
might die, and I live alone! then thou shouldst see how fat I would be. But 
must thou sit and I stand! Come down with a vengeance!

Faustus	Away, envious rascal! What art thou - the fifth?

Gluttony	Who, I, sir? I am Gluttony. My parents are all dead, and the devil 
a penny they have left me, but a bare pension, and that is thirty meals a 
day and ten bevers - a small trifle to suffice nature. O, I come of a royal 
parentage! My grandfather was a Gammon of Bacon, my grandmother was a 
Hogshead of Claret wine; my godfathers were these, Peter Pickle-herring, 
and Martin Martlemas-beef; O, but my godmother, she was a jolly 
gentlewoman, and well beloved in every good town and city; her name was 
Mistress Margery March-bee. Now, Faustus, thou hast heard all my progeny, 
wilt thou bid me to supper?

Faustus	No, I'll see thee hanged: thou wilt eat up all my victuals.

Gluttony	Then the Devil choke thee!

Faustus	Choke thyself, glutton! Who art thou - the sixth?

Sloth	I am Sloth. I was begotten on a sunny bank, where I have lain ever 
since; and you have done me great injury to bring me from thence: let me be 
carried thither again by Gluttony and Lechery. I'll not speak another word 
for a king's ransom.

Faustus	What are you, Mistress Minx, the seventh and last?

Lechery	Who, I, sir? I am the one that loves an inch of raw mutton better 
than an ell of fried stock-fish; and the first letter of my name begins 
with L.

Lucifer	Away to hell, to hell!

Exeunt the Sins

Now, Faustus, how dost thou like this?

Faustus	O, this feeds my soul!

Lucifer	Tut, Faustus, in hell is all manner of delight.

Faustus	O, might I see hell, and return again,
How happy were I then!

Lucifer	Thou shalt; I will send for thee at midnight.
In meantime take this book; peruse it throughly,
And thou shalt turn thyself into what shape thou wilt.

Faustus	Great thanks, mighty Lucifer!
This will I keep as chary as my life.

Lucifer	Farewell, Faustus, and think on the Devil.

Faustus	Farewell, great Lucifer! Come, Mephistophilis.

Exeunt omnes
Enter WAGNER solus

Wagner	Learned Faustus,
To know the secrets of astronomy,
Graven in the book of Jove's high firmament,
Did mount himself to scale Olympus' top,
Being seated in a chariot burning bright,
Drawn by the strength of yoky dragons' necks.
He now is gone to prove cosmography,
And, as I guess, will first arrive at Rome,
To see the Pope the manner of his court,
And take some part of holy Peter's feast,
That to this day is highly solemnized.

Exit WAGNER


Scene 7

The Privy-Chamber of the Pope

Enter FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHILIS

Faustus	Having now, my good Mephistophilis,
Passed with delight the stately town of Trier,
Environed round with airy mountain tops,
With walls of flint, and deep entrenched lakes,
Not to be won by any conquering prince;
From Paris next, coasting the realm of France,
We saw the river Maine fall into Rhine,
Whose banks are set with groves of fruitful vines;
Then up to Naples, rich Campania,
Whose buildings fair and gorgeous to the eye,
The streets straight forth, and paved with finest brick,
Quarter the town in four equivalents:
There saw we learned Maro's golden tomb,
The way he cut, an English mile in length,
Thorough a rock of stone in one night's space;
From thence to Venice, Padua, and the rest,
In one of which a sumptuous temple stands,
That threats the stars with her aspiring top.
Thus hitherto has Faustus spent his time:
But tell me, now, what resting-place is this?
Hast thou, as erst I did command,
Conducted me within the walls of Rome?

Mephistophilis	Faustus, I have; and because we will not be unprovided, I 
have taken up his Holiness' privy chamber for our use.

Faustus	I hope his Holiness will bid us welcome.

Mephistophilis	Tut, 'tis no matter, man, we'll be bold with his good cheer.
And now, my Faustus, that thou mayst perceive
What Rome containeth to delight thee with,
Know that this city stands upon seven hills
That underprop the groundwork of the same:
Just through the midst runs flowing Tiber's stream,
With winding banks that cut it in two parts:
Over the which four stately bridges lean,
That make safe passage to each part of Rome:
Upon the bridge called Ponte Angelo
Erected is a castle passing strong,
Within whose walls such store of ordnance are,
And double cannons framed of carved brass,
As match the days within one complete year;
Besides the gates, and high pyramides,
Which Julius Caesar brought from Africa.

Faustus	Now, by the kingdoms of infernal rule,
Of Styx, of Acheron, and the fiery lake
Of ever-burning Phlegethon, I swear
That I do long to see the monuments
And situation of bright-splendent Rome:
Come, therefore, let's away.

Mephistophilis	Nay, Faustus, stay; I know you'd fain see the Pope,
And take some part of holy Peter's feast,
Where thou shalt see a troop of bald-pate friars,
Whose summum bonum is in belly-cheer.

Faustus	Well, I'm content to compass them some sport,
And by their folly make us merriment.
Then charm me, Mephistophilis, that I
May be invisible, to do what I please
Unseen of any whilst I stay in Rome.

MEPHISTOPHILIS charms him

Mephistophilis	So, Faustus, now
Do what thou wilt, thou shalt not be discerned.

Sound a sennet.
Enter the POPE and the CARDINAL of LORRAIN to the banquet, with FRIARS 
attending

Pope	My Lord of Lorrain, wilt please you draw near?

Faustus	Fall to, and the devil choke you an you spare!

Pope	How now! Who's that which spake? - Friars, look about.

Friar	Here's nobody, if it like your Holiness.

Pope	My lord, here is a dainty dish was sent me from the Bishop of Milan.

Faustus	I thank you, sir.

Snatches it

Pope	How now! Who's that which snatched the meat from me? Will no man look? 
My Lord, this dish was sent me from the Cardinal of Florence.

Faustus	You say true; I'll ha't.

Snatches the dish

Pope	What, again! My lord, I'll drink to your grace.

Faustus	I'll pledge your grace.

Snatches the cup

Cardinal
of Lorraine	My Lord, it may be some ghost newly crept out of purgatory, 
come to beg a pardon of your Holiness.

Pope	It may be so. Friars, prepare a dirge to lay the fury of this ghost. 
Once again, my lord, fall to.

The POPE crosseth himself

Faustus	What, are you crossing of yourself?
Well, use that trick no more I would advise you.

Cross again

Well, there's the second time. Aware the third,
I give you fair warning.

Cross again, and FAUSTUS hits him a box of the ear; and they all run away

Come on, Mephistophilis, what shall we do?

Mephistophilis	Nay, I know not. We shall be cursed with bell, book, and 
candle.

Faustus	How! bell, book, and candle - candle, book, and bell,
Forward and backward to curse Faustus to hell!
Anon you shall hear a hog grunt, a calf bleat, and an ass bray,
Because it is Saint Peter's holiday.

Enter all the FRIARS to sing the Dirge

Friar	Come, brethren, let's about our business with good devotion.

Sing this

Cursed be he that stole away his Holiness' meat from the table! Maledicat 
Dominus!

Cursed be he that struck his Holiness a blow on the face! Maledicat 
Dominus!

Cursed be he that took Friar Sandelo a blow on the pate! Maledicat Dominus!

Cursed be he that disturbeth our holy dirge! Maledicat Dominus!

Cursed be he that took away his Holiness' wine! Maledicat Dominus! Et omnes 
sancti! Amen!

MEPHISTOPHILIS and FAUSTUS beat the FRIARS, and fling fireworks among them: 
and so exeunt

Enter CHORUS

Chorus	When Faustus had with pleasure ta'en the view
Of rarest things, and royal courts of kings,
He stayed his course, and so returned home;
Where such as bear his absence but with grief,
I mean his friends, and near'st companions,
Did gratulate his safety with kind words,
And in their conference of what befell,
Touching his journey through the world and air,
They put forth questions of astrology,
Which Faustus answered with such learned skill,
As they admired and wondered at his wit.
Now is his fame spread forth in every land;
Amongst the rest the Emperor is one,
Carolus the Fifth, at whose palace now
Faustus is feasted 'mongst his noblemen.
What there he did in trial of his art,
I leave untold - your eyes shall see performed.

Exit


Scene 7

An Inn-yard

Enter ROBIN the Ostler with a book in his hand

Robin	Oh, this is admirable! here I ha' stolen one of Doctor Faustus' 
conjuring books, and i' faith I mean to search some circles for my own use. 
Now will I make all the maidens in our parish dance at my pleasure, stark-
naked before me; and so by that means I shall see more than e'er I felt or 
saw yet.

Enter RAFE calling ROBIN

Rafe	Robin, prithee, come away; there's a gentleman tarries to have his 
horse, and he would have his things rubbed and made clean: he keeps such a 
chafing with my mistress about it; and she has sent me to look thee out - 
prithee, come away.

Robin	Keep out, keep out, or else you are blown up; you are dismembered, 
Rafe: keep out, for I am about a roaring piece of work.

Rafe	Come, what dost thou with that same book? Thou can'st not read.

Robin	Yes, my master and mistress shall find that I can read, he for his 
forehead, she for her private study; she's born to bear with me, or else my 
art fails.

Rafe	Why, Robin, what book is that?

Robin	What book! Why, the most intolerable book for conjuring that e'er was 
invented by any brimstone devil.

Rafe	Can'st thou conjure with it?

Robin	I can do all these things easily with it; first, I can make thee 
drunk with ippocras at any tabern in Europe for nothing; that's one of my 
conjuring works.

Rafe	Our Master Parson says that's nothing.

Robin	True, Rafe; and more, Rafe, if thou hast any mind to Nan Spit, our 
kitchen-maid, then turn her and wind her to thy own use as often as thou 
wilt, and at midnight.

Rafe	O brave Robin, shall I have Nan Spit, and to mine own use? On that 
condition I'd feed thy devil with horse-bread as long as he lives, of free 
cost.

Robin	No more, sweet Rafe: let's go and make clean our boots, which lie 
foul upon our hands, and then to our conjuring in the devil's name.

Exeunt


Scene 9

The Same

Enter ROBIN and RAFE with a silver goblet

Robin	Come, Rafe, did not I tell thee we were for ever made by this Doctor 
Faustus' book? ecce signun, here's a simple purchase for horse-keepers; our 
horses shall eat no hay as long as this lasts.

Rafe	But, Robin, here comes the Vintner.

Robin	Hush! I'll gull him supernaturally.

Enter VINTNER

Drawer, I hope all is paid: God be with you; come, Rafe.	

Vintner	Soft, sir; a word with you. I must yet have a goblet paid from you, 
ere you go.

Robin	I, a goblet, Rafe; I, a goblet! I scorn you, and you are but a, etc. 
I, a goblet! search me.

Vintner	I mean so, sir, with your favour.

Searches him

Robin	How say you now?

Vintner	I must say somewhat to your fellow. You, sir!

Rafe	Me, sir! me, sir! search your fill.

Vintner searches him.

Now, sir, you may be ashamed to burden honest men with a matter of truth.

Vintner	Well, t'one of you hath this goblet about you.

Robin	[Aside] You lie, drawer, 'tis afore me. - Sirrah you, I'll teach you 
to impeach honest men - stand by - I'll scour you for a goblet! - stand 
aside you had best, I charge you in the name of Belzebub. - [Aside to RAFE] 
Look to the goblet, Rafe.

Vintner	What mean you, sirrah?

Robin	I'll tell you what I mean.
[Reads from a book] Sanctobulorum Periphrasticon - nay, I'll tickle you, 
Vintner.
[Aside to RAFE] Look to the goblet, Rafe.
[Reads] Polypragmos Belseborams framanto pacostiphos tostu, Mephistophilis, 
etc.

Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS, sets squibs at their backs, and then exit. They run 
about

Vintner	O nomine Domini! what meanest thou, Robin? thou hast no goblet.

Rafe	Peccatum peccatorum. Here's thy goblet, good Vintner.

Gives the goblet to Vintner, who exit

Robin	Misericordia pro nobis! What shall I do? Good Devil, forgive me now, 
and I'll never rob thy library more.

Enter to them MEPHISTOPHILIS

Mephistophilis	Monarch of hell, under whose black survey
Great potentates do kneel with awful fear,
Upon whose altars thousand souls do lie,
How am I vexed with these villains' charms!
From Constantinople am I hither come
Only for pleasure of these damned slaves.

Robin	How, from Constantinople! You have had a great journey: will you take 
sixpence in your purse to pay for your supper, and begone?

Mephistophilis	Well, villains, for your presumption I transform thee into 
an ape, and thee into a dog and so begone.

Exit

Robin	How, into an ape; that's brave! I'll have fine sport with the boys. 
I'll get nuts and apples enow.

Rafe	And I must be a dog.

Robin	I'faith thy head will never be out of the pottage pot.

Exeunt



Scene 10

The Court

Enter EMPEROR, FAUSTUS, and a KNIGHT with Attendants

Emperor	Master Doctor Faustus, I have heard strange report of thy knowledge 
in the black art, how that none in my empire nor in the whole world can 
compare with thee for the rare effects of magic; they say thou hast a 
familiar spirit, by whom thou canst accomplish what thou list. This, 
therefore is my request, that thou let me see some proof of thy skill, that 
mine eyes may be witnesses to confirm what mine ears have heard reported; 
and here I swear to thee by the honour of mine imperial crown, that, 
whatever thou doest, thou shalt be no ways prejudiced or endamaged.

Knight	[Aside] I'faith he looks much like a conjuror.

Faustus	My gracious sovereign, though I must confess myself far inferior to 
the report men have published, and nothing answerable to the honour of your 
imperial majesty, yet for that love and duty binds me thereunto, I am 
content to do whatsoever your majesty shall command me.

Emperor	Then, Doctor Faustus, mark what I shall say.
As I was sometimes solitary set
Within my closet, sundry thoughts arose
About the honour of mine ancestors,
How they had won by prowess such exploits,
Got such riches, subdued so many kingdoms
As we that do succeed, or they that shall
Hereafter possess our throne, shall
(I fear me) ne'er attain to that degree
Of high renown and great authority;
Amongst which kings is Alexander the Great,
Chief spectacle of the world's pre-eminence,
The bright shining of whose glorious acts
Lightens the world with his reflecting beams,
As when I hear but motion made of him
It grieves my soul I never saw the man.
If therefore thou by cunning of thine art
Canst raise this man from hollow vaults below,
Where lies entombed this famous conqueror,
And bring with him his beauteous paramour,
Both in their right shapes, gesture, and attire
They used to wear during their time of life,
Thou shalt both satisfy my just desire,
And give me cause to praise thee whilst I live.

Faustus	My gracious lord, I am ready to accomplish your request so far 
forth as by art, and power of my spirit, I am able to perform.

Knight	[Aside] I'faith that's just nothing at all.

Faustus	But, if it like your grace, it is not in my ability to present 
before your eyes the true substantial bodies of those two deceased princes, 
which long since are consumed to dust.

Knight	[Aside] Ay, marry, Master Doctor, now there's a sign of grace in 
you, when you will confess the truth.

Aside Faustus	But such spirits as can lively resemble Alexander and his 
paramour shall appear before your grace in that manner that they best lived 
in, in their most flourishing estate; which I doubt not shall sufficiently 
content your imperial majesty.

Emperor	Go to, Master Doctor, let me see them presently.

Knight	Do you hear, Master Doctor? You bring Alexander and his paramour 
before the Emperor!

Faustus	How then, sir?

Knight	I'faith that's as true as Diana turned me to stag !

Faustus	No, sir, but when Actaeon died, he left the horns for you. 
Mephistophilis, begone.

Exit MEPHISTOPHILIS

Knight	Nay, an you go to conjuring, I'll begone.

Exit KNIGHT

Faustus	I'll meet with you anon for interrupting me so. Here they are, my 
gracious lord.

Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with Spirits in the shape of ALEXANDER and his 
Paramour

Emperor	Master Doctor, I heard this lady while she lived had a wart or mole 
in her neck: how shall I know whether it be so or no?

Faustus	Your highness may boldly go and see.

Emperor	Sure these are no spirits, but the true substantial bodies of those 
two deceased princes.

Exeunt Spirits

Faustus	Will't please your highness now to send for the knight that was so 
pleasant with me here of late?

Emperor	One of you call him forth!

Exit Attendant
Enter the KNIGHT with a pair of horns on his head

How now, sir knight! why I had thought thou had'st been a bachelor, but now 
I see thou hast a wife, that not only gives thee horns, but makes thee wear 
them. Feel on thy head.

Knight	Thou damned wretch and execrable dog,
Bred in the concave of some monstrous rock,
How darest thou thus abuse a gentleman?
Villain, I say, undo what thou hast done!

Faustus	O, not so fast, sir; there's no haste; but, good, are you 
remembered how you crossed me in my conference with the Emperor? I think I 
have met with you for it.

Emperor	Good Master Doctor, at my entreaty release him; he hath done 
penance sufficient.

Faustus	My gracious lord, not so much for the injury he offered me here in 
your presence, as to delight you with some mirth, hath Faustus worthily 
requited this injurious knight; which, being all I desire, I am content to 
release him of his horns: and, sir knight, hereafter speak well of 
scholars. Mephistophilis, transform him straight.

MEPHISTOPHILIS removes the horns

Now, my good lord, having done my duty I humbly take my leave.

Emperor	Farewell, Master Doctor; yet, ere you go,
Expect from me a bounteous reward.

Exit EMPEROR



Scene 11

A Green, then FAUSTUS' house

Enter FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHILIS

Faustus	Now, Mephistophilis, the restless course that
Time doth run with calm and silent foot,
Shortening my days and thread of vital life,
Calls for the payment of my latest years:
Therefore, sweet Mephistophilis, let us
Make haste to Wittenberg.

Mephistophilis	What, will you go on horseback or on foot?

Faustus	Nay, till I'm past this fair and pleasant green,
I'll walk on foot.

Enter a HORSE-COURSER

Horse-Courser	I have been all this day seeking one Master Fustian: mass, 
see where he is! God save you, Master Doctor!

Faustus	What, Horse-Courser! You are well met.

Horse-Courser	Do you hear, sir? I have brought you forty dollars for your 
horse.

Faustus	I cannot sell him so: if thou likest him for fifty, take him.

Horse-Courser	Alas, sir, I have no more. - I pray you speak for me.

Mephistophilis	I pray you let him have him: he is an honest fellow, and he 
has a great charge, neither wife nor child.

Faustus	Well, come, give me your money.

HORSE-COURSER gives FAUSTUS the money

My boy will deliver him to you. But I must tell you one thing before you 
have him; ride him not into the water at any hand.

Horse-Courser	Why, sir, will he not drink of all waters?

Faustus	O, yes, he will drink of all waters, but ride him not into the 
water: ride him over hedge or ditch, or where thou wilt, but not into the 
water.

Horse-Courser	Well, sir. - [Aside] Now am I made man for ever: I'll not 
leave my horse for twice forty: if he had but the quality of hey-ding-ding, 
hey-ding-ding, I'd make a brave living on him: he has a buttock as slick as 
an eel. [Aloud] Well, God buy, sir, your boy will deliver him me: but hark 
you, sir; if my horse be sick or ill at ease, if I bring his water to you, 
you'll tell me what it is?

Faustus	Away, you villain; what, dost think I am a horse doctor?

Exit HORSE-COURSER

What are thou, Faustus, but a man condemned to die?
Thy fatal time doth draw to final end;
Despair doth drive distrust unto my thoughts:
Confound these passions with a quiet sleep:
Tush, Christ did call the thief upon the cross;
Then rest thee, Faustus, quiet in conceit.

Sleeps in his chair
Re-enter HORSE-COURSER, all wet, crying

Horse Courser	Alas, alas! Doctor Fustian quotha? Mass, Doctor Lopus was 
never such a doctor. Has given me a purgation has purged me of forty 
dollars; I shall never see them more. But yet, like an ass as I was, I 
would not be ruled by him, for he bade me I should ride him into no water. 
Now I, thinking my horse had had some rare quality that he would not have 
had me known of, I, like a venturous youth, rid him into the deep pond at 
the town's end. I was no sooner in the middle of the pond, but my horse 
vanished away, and I sat upon a bottle of hay, never so near drowning in my 
life. But I'll seek out my Doctor, and have my forty dollars again, or I'll 
make it the dearest horse! - O, yonder is his snipper-snapper. - Do you 
hear? you hey-pass, where's your master?

Mephistophilis	Why, sir, what would you? You cannot speak with him.

Horse Courser	But I will speak with him.

Mephistophilis	Why, he's fast asleep. Come some other time.

Horse Courser	I'll speak with him now, or I'll break his glass windows 
about his ears.

Mephistophilis	I tell thee he has not slept this eight nights.

Horse Courser	An he have not slept this eight weeks I'll speak with him.

Mephistophilis	See where he is, fast asleep.

Horse Courser	Ay, this is he. God save you, Master Doctor, Master Doctor, 
Master Doctor Fustian! - Forty dollars, forty dollars for a bottle of hay!

Mephistophilis	Why, thou seest he hears thee not.

Horse Courser	[Hollas in his ear] So-ho, ho! - so-ho ho! No, will you not 
wake? I'll make you wake ere I go. [Pulls him by the leg, and pulls it 
away] Alas, I am undone! What shall I do?

Faustus	O, my leg, my leg! Help, Mephistophilis! call the officers. My leg, 
my leg!

Mephistophilis	Come, villain, to the constable.

Horse Courser	O lord, sir, let me go, and I'll give you forty dollars more.

Mephistophilis	Where be they?

Horse Courser	I have none about me. Come to my ostry and I'll give them 
you.

Mephistophilis	Begone quickly.

HORSE-COURSER runs away

Faustus	What, is he gone? Farewell he! Faustus has his leg again, and the 
horse-courser, I take it, a bottle of hay for his labour. Well, this trick 
shall cost him forty dollars more.

Enter WAGNER

How now, Wagner, what's the news with thee?

Wagner	Sir, the Duke of Vanholt doth earnestly entreat your company.

Faustus	The Duke of Vanholt! an honourable gentleman, to whom I must be no 
niggard of my cunning. Come, Mephistophilis, let's away to him.

Exeunt



Scene 12

Court of the Duke

Enter the DUKE and the DUCHESS; FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHILIS

Duke	Believe me, Master Doctor, this merriment hath much pleased me.

Faustus	My gracious lord, I am glad it contents you so well. - But it may 
be, madam, you take no delight in this. I have heard that great bellied 
women do long for some dainties or other: what is it, madam? tell me, and 
you shall have it.

Duchess	Thanks, good Master Doctor; and for I see your courteous intent to 
pleasure me, I will not hide from you the thing my heart desires; and were 
it now summer, as it is January and the dead time of the winter, I would 
desire no better meat than a dish of ripe grapes.

Faustus	Alas, madam, that's nothing! Mephistophilis, begone.

Exit MEPHISTOPHILIS

Were it a greater thing than this, so it would content you, you should have 
it.

Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with the grapes

Here they be, madam; wilt please you taste on them?

Duke	Believe me, Master Doctor, this makes me wonder above the rest, that 
being in the dead time of winter, and in the month of January, how you 
should come by these grapes.

Faustus	If it like your grace, the year is divided into two circles over 
the whole world, that, when it is here winter with us, in the contrary 
circle it is summer with them, as in India, Saba, and farther countries in 
the East; and by means of a swift spirit that I have I had them brought 
hither, as you see. - How do you like them, madam; be they good?

Duchess	Believe me, Master Doctor, they be the best grapes that e'er I 
tasted in my life before.

Faustus	I am glad they content you so, madam.

Duke	Come, madam, let us in, where you must well reward this learned man 
for the great kindness he hath showed to you.

Duchess	And so I will, my lord; and, whilst I live, rest beholding for this 
courtesy.

Faustus	I humbly thank your grace.

Duke	Come, Master Doctor, follow us and receive your reward.

Exeunt


Scene 13

FAUSTUS' Study

Enter WAGNER solus

Wagner	I think my master means to die shortly,
For he hath given to me all his goods
And yet, methinks, if that death were [so] near,
He would not banquet, and carouse and swill
Amongst the students, as even now he doth,
Who are at supper with such belly-cheer
As Wagner ne'er beheld in all his life.
See where they come! belike the feast is ended.

Enter FAUSTUS, with two or three Scholars, and MEPHISTOPHILIS

1st Scholar	Master Doctor Faustus, since our conference about fair ladies, 
which was the beautifullest in all the world, we have determined with 
ourselves that Helen of Greece was the admirablest lady that ever lived: 
therefore, Master Doctor, if you will do us that favour, as to let us see 
that peerless dame of Greece, whom all the world admires for majesty, we 
should think ourselves much beholding unto you.

Faustus	Gentlemen,
For that I know your friendship is unfeigned,
And Faustus' custom is not to deny
The just requests of those that wish him well,
You shall behold that peerless dame of Greece,
No otherways for pomp and majesty,
Than when Sir Paris crossed the seas with her,
And brought the spoils to rich Dardania.
Be silent, then, for danger is in words.

Music sounds and HELEN passeth over the stage

2nd Scholar	Too simple is my wit to tell her praise,
Whom all the world admires for majesty.

3rd Scholar	No marvel though the angry Greeks pursued
With ten years' war the rape of such a queen,
Whose heavenly beauty passeth all compare.

1st Scholar	Since we have seen the pride of Nature's works,
And only paragon of excellence,

Enter an OLD MAN

Let us depart; and for this glorious deed
Happy and blest be Faustus evermore.

Faustus	Gentlemen, farewell - the same I wish to you.

Exeunt SCHOLARS and WAGNER

Old Man	Ah, Doctor Faustus, that I might prevail
To guide thy steps unto the way of life,
By which sweet path thou mayst attain the goal
That shall conduct thee to celestial rest!
Break heart, drop blood, and mingle it with tears,
Tears falling from repentant heaviness
Of thy most vile and loathsome filthiness,
The stench whereof corrupts the inward soul
With such flagitious crimes of heinous sins
As no commiseration may expel,
But mercy, Faustus, of thy Saviour sweet,
Whose blood alone must wash away thy guilt.

Faustus	Where art thou, Faustus? wretch, what hast thou done?
Damned art thou, Faustus, damned; despair and die!
Hell calls for right, and with a roaring voice
Says, "Faustus! come! thine hour is [almost] come!"
And Faustus now will come to do thee right.

MEPHISTOPHILIS gives him a dagger

Old Man	Ah stay, good Faustus, stay thy desperate steps!
I see an angel hovers o'er thy head,
And, with a vial full of precious grace,
Offers to pour the same into thy soul:
Then call for mercy, and avoid despair.

Faustus	Ah, my sweet friend, I feel
Thy words do comfort my distressed soul.
Leave me a while to ponder on my sins.

Old Man	I go, sweet Faustus, but with heavy cheer,
Fearing the ruin of thy hopeless soul.

Exit

Faustus	Accursed Faustus, where is mercy now?
I do repent; and yet I do despair;
Hell strives with grace for conquest in my breast:
What shall I do to shun the snares of death?

Mephistophilis	Thou traitor, Faustus, I arrest thy soul
For disobedience to my sovereign lord;
Revolt, or I'll in piecemeal tear thy flesh.

Faustus	Sweet Mephistophilis, entreat thy lord
To pardon my unjust presumption.
And with my blood again I will confirm
My former vow I made to Lucifer.

Mephistophilis	Do it then quickly, with unfeigned heart,
Lest greater danger do attend thy drift.

FAUSTUS stabs his arm and writes on a paper with his blood

Faustus	Torment, sweet friend, that base and crooked age,
That durst dissuade me from thy Lucifer,
With greatest torments that our hell affords.

Mephistophilis	His faith is great: I cannot touch his soul;
But what I may afflict his body with
I will attempt, which is but little worth.

Faustus	One thing, good servant, let me crave of thee,
To glut the longing of my heart's desire -
That I might have unto my paramour
That heavenly Helen, which I saw of late,
Whose sweet embracings may extinguish clean
These thoughts that do dissuade me from my vow,
And keep mine oath I made to Lucifer.

Mephistophilis	Faustus, this or what else thou shalt desire
Shall be performed in twinkling of an eye.

Enter HELEN

Faustus	Was this the face that launched a thousand ships
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.

Kisses her

Her lips suck forth my soul; see where it flies!
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven be in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
I will be Paris, and for love of thee,
Instead of Troy, shall Wittenberg be sacked
And I will combat with weak Menelaus,
And wear thy colours on my plumed crest:
Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel,
And then return to Helen for a kiss.
O, thou art fairer than the evening air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars;
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter
When he appeared to hapless Semele:
More lovely than the monarch of the sky
In wanton Arethusa's azured arms:
And none but thou shalt be my paramour!

Exeunt
Enter the OLD MAN

Old Man	Accursed Faustus, miserable man,
That from thy soul exclud'st the grace of heaven,
And fly'st the throne of his tribunal seat!

Enter DEVILS

Satan begins to sift me with his pride:
As in this furnace God shall try my faith,
My faith, vile hell, shall triumph over thee.
Ambitious fiends! see how the heavens smile
At your repulse, and laugh your state to scorn!
Hence, hell! for hence I fly unto my God.

Exeunt


Scene 14

The Same

Enter FAUSTUS with the SCHOLARS

Faustus	Ah, gentlemen!

1st Scholar	What ails Faustus?

Faustus	Ah, my sweet chamber-fellow, had I lived with thee, then had I 
lived still! but now I die eternally. Look, comes he not, comes he not?

2nd Scholar	What means Faustus?

3rd Scholar	Belike he is grown into some sickness by being over solitary.

1st Scholar	If it be so, we'll have physicians to cure him. 'Tis but a 
surfeit. Never fear, man.

Faustus	A surfeit of deadly sin that hath damned both body and soul.

2nd Scholar	Yet, Faustus, look up to heaven: remember God's mercies are 
infinite.

Faustus	But Faustus' offence can ne'er be pardoned: the serpent that 
tempted Eve may be saved, but not Faustus. Ah, gentlemen, hear me with 
patience, and tremble not at my speeches! Though my heart pants and quivers 
to remember that I have been a student here these thirty years, O, would I 
had never seen Wittenberg, never read book! And what wonders I have done, 
all Germany can witness, yea, all the world; for which Faustus hath lost 
both Germany and the world, yea heaven itself, heaven, the seat of God, the 
throne of the blessed, the kingdom of joy; and must remain in hell for 
ever, hell, ah, hell, for ever! Sweet friends! what shall become of Faustus 
being in hell for ever?

3rd Scholar	Yet, Faustus, call on God.

Faustus	On God, whom Faustus hath abjured! on God, whom Faustus hath 
blasphemed! Ah, my God, I would weep, but the Devil draws in my tears. Gush 
forth blood instead of tears! Yea, life and soul! O, he stays my tongue! I 
would lift up my hands, but see, they hold them, they hold them!

All	Who, Faustus?

Faustus	Lucifer and Mephistophilis. Ah, gentlemen, I gave them my soul for 
my cunning!

All	God forbid!

Faustus	God forbade it indeed; but Faustus hath done it: for vain pleasure 
of twenty-four years hath Faustus lost eternal joy and felicity. I writ 
them a bill with mine own blood: the date is expired; the time will come, 
and he will fetch me.

1st Scholar	Why did not Faustus tell us of this before, that divines might 
have prayed for thee?

Faustus	Oft have I thought to have done so: but the Devil threatened to 
tear me in pieces if I named God; to fetch both body and soul if I once 
gave ear to divinity: and now 'tis too late. Gentlemen, away! lest you 
perish with me.

2nd Scholar	O, what shall we do to [save] Faustus?

Faustus	Talk not of me, but save yourselves, and depart.

3rd Scholar	God will strengthen me. I will stay with Faustus.

1st Scholar	Tempt not God, sweet friend; but let us into the next room, and 
there pray for him.

Faustus	Ay, pray for me, pray for me! and what noise soever ye hear, come 
not unto me, for nothing can rescue me.

2nd Scholar	Pray thou, and we will pray that God may have mercy upon thee.

Faustus	Gentlemen, farewell: if I live till morning I'll visit you: if not 
Faustus is gone to hell.

All	Faustus, farewell.

Exeunt SCHOLARS
The clock strikes eleven

Faustus	Ah, Faustus,
Now hast thou but one bare hour to live,
And then thou must be damned perpetually!
Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven,
That time may cease, and midnight never come;
Fair Nature's eye, rise, rise again and make
Perpetual day; or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul!
O lente, lente, currite noctis equi!
The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,
The Devil will come, and Faustus must be damned.
Oh, I'll leap up to my God! Who pulls me down?
See, see where Christ's blood streams in the firmament!
One drop would save my soul - half a drop: ah, my Christ!
Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!
Yet will I call on him: O, spare me, Lucifer! -
Where is it now? 'tis gone; and see where God
Stretcheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows!
Mountain and hills come, come and fall on me,
And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!
No! no!
Then will I headlong run into the earth;
Earth gape! O, no, it will not harbour me!
You stars that reigned at my nativity,
Whose influence hath allotted death and hell,
Now draw up Faustus like a foggy mist
Into the entrails of yon labouring clouds,
That when you vomit forth into the air,
My limbs may issue from their smoky mouths,
So that my soul may but ascend to heaven,

The clock strikes the half hour

Ah, half the hour is past! 'twill all be past anon!
O God!
If thou wilt not have mercy on my soul,
Yet for Christ's sake whose blood hath ransomed me,
Impose some end to my incessant pain;
Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years -
A hundred thousand, and - at last - be saved!
O, no end is limited to damned souls!
Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul?
Or why is this immortal that thou hast?
Ah, Pythagoras' metempsychosis! were that true,
This soul should fly from me, and I be changed
Unto some brutish beast! all beasts are happy,
For, when they die,
Their souls are soon dissolved in elements;
But mine must live, still to be plagued in hell.
Curst be the parents that engendered me!
No, Faustus: curse thyself; curse Lucifer
That hath deprived thee of the joys of heaven.

The clock strikes twelve

O, it strikes, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air,
Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell.

Thunder and lightning

O soul, be changed into little water-drops,
And fall into the ocean - ne'er be found.
My God! my God! look not so fierce on me!

Enter DEVILS

Adders and serpents, let me breathe awhile!
Ugly hell, gape not! come not, Lucifer!
I'll burn my books! - Ah Mephistophilis!

Exeunt with him

Enter CHORUS

Chorus	Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight,
And burned is Apollo's laurel bough,
That sometime grew within this learned man.
Faustus is gone; regard his hellish fall,
Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise
Only to wonder at unlawful things.
Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits
To practise more than heavenly power permits.

Exit

Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus.