Part 16 (1/2)
(He disguises himself.)
My wits, be certain, will befriend me.
But fifteen minutes' time is all I need; For our fine trip, meanwhile, prepare thyself with speed!
[Exit FAUST.
MEPHISTOPHELES
(In FAUST'S long mantle.)
Reason and Knowledge only thou despise, The highest strength in man that lies!
Let but the Lying Spirit bind thee With magic works and shows that blind thee, And I shall have thee fast and sure!- Fate such a bold, untrammelled spirit gave him, As forwards, onwards, ever must endure; Whose over-hasty impulse drave him Past earthly joys he might secure.
Dragged through the wildest life, will I enslave him, Through flat and stale indifference; With struggling, chilling, checking, so deprave him That, to his hot, insatiate sense, The dream of drink shall mock, but never lave him: Refreshment shall his lips in vain implore- Had he not made himself the Devil's, naught could save him, Still were he lost forevermore!
(A STUDENT enters.)
STUDENT
A short time, only, am I here, And come, devoted and sincere, To greet and know the man of fame, Whom men to me with reverence name.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Your courtesy doth flatter me: You see a man, as others be.
Have you, perchance, elsewhere begun?
STUDENT
Receive me now, I pray, as one Who comes to you with courage good, Somewhat of cash, and healthy blood: My mother was hardly willing to let me; But knowledge worth having I fain would get me.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Then you have reached the right place now.
STUDENT
I'd like to leave it, I must avow; I find these walls, these vaulted s.p.a.ces Are anything but pleasant places.
Tis all so cramped and close and mean; One sees no tree, no glimpse of green, And when the lecture-halls receive me, Seeing, hearing, and thinking leave me.
MEPHISTOPHELES
All that depends on habitude.
So from its mother's b.r.e.a.s.t.s a child At first, reluctant, takes its food, But soon to seek them is beguiled.
Thus, at the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of Wisdom clinging, Thou'lt find each day a greater rapture bringing.
STUDENT
I'll hang thereon with joy, and freely drain them; But tell me, pray, the proper means to gain them.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Explain, before you further speak, The special faculty you seek.
STUDENT