 | Faust |  |
Scene 2.
—Nuremberg. The City Wall.Enter Faust.
Faust.
But once I saw her, 'twas a passing glimpse,
And yet the whole infection of her beauty
Hath passed into my blood, and left a fever.
Are our emotions but the toy and sport
Of every change of scene and waft of air?
Enter Mephistopheles.
Mephis.
Now by the purgatorial flames! By Hell!
I would I could invent some feller curse!
Faust.
Why, what's the matter?
Mephis.
If I were not the Devil, I would cry,
“The Devil take me, if I suffer it!”
Faust.
What is the cause of this Satanic anger?
Mephis.
A weasel monk has come and sucked the eggs.
The jewels that I've found for Margaret
He hath empocketed for Mother Church,
A morsel for her most insatiate maw.
Faust.
What do you mean?
Mephis.
Her mother found poor Margaret in her finery;
(And how she got an inkling, I can't tell,
The nose that woman hath is past belief,)
And finding something cursed in the trinkets,
She straight devotes them unto Mother Church.
“She,” quoth the monk, “hath a good stomach,
She can eat up all, and never, never over-eat herself.”
Faust.
And Margaret?
Mephis.
Well—she didn't look religious.
She wept awhile, and to the monk was deaf;
22
And now she's sighing, thinking of the giver,
And wond'ring if she'll ever see him more.
Faust.
Then bring me to her.
Mephis.
I'll watch that greedy monk—a fat-paunch'd monk.
Faust.
Your plan?
Mephis.
A very simple one.
I go at once to visit old dame Schwerdtlein,
The confidential neighbour of our Margaret.
This eve the two will have a pleasant gossip
Touching the casket, and the handsome stranger,
When I'll drop in—a messenger from far,
To bring the smug grass-widow cheerful news.
And then to gain a footing in the house,
Say that her husband died in Padua.
Faust.
And then—
Mephis.
Then slyly add, I am a bachelor,
And gain the gentle widow's confidence.
Good soul, she'll need another witness, though.
Faust.
What witness?
Mephis.
You.
Faust.
I cannot go to Padua.
Mephis.
Sancta simplicitas! there is no need.
Can you not say you saw the corpse? that's all.
Faust.
Then I refuse!
Mephis.
O holy man, that would outwit the devil!
Is it the first time that the learned reverend
Hath sworn to what he knew could not be true?
Have you not taught theology and science,
Matters, in truth, you knew as little of,
As now you do, of poor old Schwerdtlein's death?
Faust.
But threadbare sophistry! I will not meet her.
Mephis.
Who forces thee? Then do not meet her.
Was I not with your worship's strict command,
To get you opportunity?—Ah well!
Let's hence, for there be other sirens in the sea.
Come, doctor, flee temptation. Ah—you linger?
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[Aside.]
How he doth cast a hellish light
On what a moment since seemed sweet as flowers!
(Aloud)
Go on.
Mephis.
Well, then, I pay my court to mistress Martha,
A jaunty, thriving suitor, fallen in years;
(No vows, no honeyed speech, no upturned eyes,
Nothing, God knows, to spoil the widow's peace,)
And in a trice his worship will appear,
The wolf—the rake—to turn the lambkin's head,
And take his fill of love, and—perjury.
Faust
(aside).
To see her face—to feel its gaze on me—
To hear her voice—her voice!
(Aloud)
Come, lead me to her—let me blindly meet her.
[Exit.
Mephis.
The profligate! he'd keep behind the mask,
He would sip passion with a parching throat,
And, as he yieldeth, to his tempting heart
He calls me his betrayer.
Alas! poor Satan! how you're daily wronged!
Happy you have a shoulder that can bear it,
Or else in time you'd grow a thing to pity.
[Exit.
| Faust | |