Prince of the East - Devilish Impressions, Behemoth, Vesania

What god can hurt thee, Faustus?

Thou art 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 torture 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: 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

(Re-enter MEPHISTOPHILIS with DEVILS, who give crowns and rich apparel to

FAUSTUS, dance, and then depart)

FAUSTUS: Speak, Mephistophilis, what means this show?

MEPHISTOPHILIS: Nothing, Faustus, but to delight thy mind withal

And to shew 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 prescrib’d 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 he desires.

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 so ever he please.

I, John Faustus, of Wertenberg,

doctor, by these presents, do give both body and soul to Lucifer Prince of The

East, and his minister Mephistophilis (…)

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 tortur’d and remain for ever:

Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib’d

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 are 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 damn’d?

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 damn’d, and am now in hell *