Faustus Part 3

_Faustus_. The fury of a lion inflames me, and, if h.e.l.l were to yawn beneath my foot, I would spring beyond the limits of humanity.

He sprang out of the circle, and cried,

"I am thy lord."

_Devil_. Yes; as long as thy time runs. I lead a mighty man by the hand, and am proud to be his slave.

CHAPTER II.

On the following morning the devil Leviathan came with all the pomp and retinue of a n.o.bleman to the inn where Faustus sojourned. He alighted from his richly caparisoned steed, and asked the host whether the famous Faustus sojourned there?

The host replied by a reverential bow, and ushered him into the house.

The Devil then advanced to Faustus, and said to him, in the presence of the host:

"Your renown, your great talents, and, above all, your mighty invention, have induced me to make a wide circuit in my journey in order to become acquainted with so remarkable a man, whom the world, in spite of its lukewarmness, knows how to value. I came, likewise, to request your company in the tour of Europe, and shall be happy to accede to whatever stipulations you may choose to make, for I am perfectly aware that such a pleasure is above all price."

Faustus played his part agreeably to that of the Devil; and the host hurried out in order to relate the adventure to his household. The rumour was immediately spread, by a thousand channels, through all Frankfort; and the arrival of the distinguished stranger was soon known, from the sentinel at the city-gate to his most wors.h.i.+pful the mayor himself. Away ran the magistrates, as if the Devil drove them, to the senate-house, leaving all the weighty affairs of state to remain unsettled whilst they consulted about this unexpected apparition. The senior alderman, a patrician, who was particularly expert in deciphering the meaning of the signs which occasionally appeared in the political horizon, and had thereby obtained a powerful ascendency in the council, pressed his fat chin into furrows, and his narrow brow into wrinkles, and, with reflection in his little eyes, a.s.sured his sapient brethren that "This distinguished stranger was nothing else than a secret envoy of his imperial majesty, who was come into Germany to observe attentively the situation, the comparative strength, the disagreements, and the alliances, of the various states and princes; so that the high and mighty court, at the opening of the approaching Diet, might know how to comport itself. And since the imperial court had always kept a watchful eye upon their republic, they must now endeavour to convince this distinguished visitor of the fiery zeal which they had always entertained for the high imperial house, and not let him depart without winning him over to the interest of the state. That they must, in so doing, take as their pattern the prudent senate of Venice, who never failed to show the greatest friends.h.i.+p and honour towards him whom they intended to deceive."

The subordinate members of the a.s.sembly affirmed that the alderman had spoken like the Doge of Venice himself; but the mayor, who bore the alderman a secret grudge, because the latter, like a true patrician, hated the democratic form of government, and was accustomed to say, whenever he was outvoted, "Ha, thus it goes when tradesmen and shopkeepers are made statesmen," quickly took up the cudgels against him in these words:

"Truly laudable and excellent, most sapient masters, seems to me that which our most prudent and politic brother has now advanced, were it not for one single circ.u.mstance which unhappily spoils all. I, indeed, do not make a boast of possessing the deep visual penetration of the alderman,--a penetration, my brethren, which can spy out a storm before it arises; nevertheless, whether it be from chance or reflection, I have long foreseen, and have long foretold, that which is now gathering around us. You must all remember, that at each of our sittings I advised you not to treat this Faustus so contemptuously, but to purchase his Latin Bible for the small sum he demanded. Even my wife, who is a mere woman, like all other women, has frequently said that, although we ourselves neither understood nor could use the book, we ought nevertheless to have it; and, on account of the beautiful letters in the t.i.tle-page, and of the curious invention, to make a show of it, as we do of our golden bull, and attract strangers from all parts. It was likewise fitting that a free and rich state like ours should protect the arts, and give them a helping hand. But I know very well what was in your minds; 'twas envy--sheer envy. You could not brook that my name should be rendered immortal. You could not digest that posterity should read in the chronicle, '_Sub consulatu_ . . . a Latin Bible was bought from Faustus of Mayence for two hundred gold guilders.' Yes, yes; 'twas that stuck in your gizzards; but, as you have brewed, so may you drink: Faustus is a devilish wild fellow, and a very strange hand to deal with; I saw that proved yesterday. And now that the imperial envoy has travelled hither merely on his account, merely on account of him whom we have treated worse than a poor cobbler, think ye not he will blow us up with the envoy out of revenge, and all our sc.r.a.pings and grimaces will serve for nothing but to make us appear ridiculous before the citizens? But he who has driven his cart into the mire may draw it out again. I wash my hands of the whole business, and, like Pilate, am innocent of Israel's blindness and destruction."

Here followed a deep silence. The b.l.o.o.d.y battle of Cannae, which threatened Rome with ruin, did not terrify her senate more than did this eloquent philippic the enlightened magistracy of Frankfort. Already the mayor triumphed in proud antic.i.p.ation: he thought even that he had hurled the alderman entirely out of his saddle; when the latter, collecting his political wisdom and heroic strength, hastened to the a.s.sistance of the sinking state, and bellowing aloud, _ad majora_, undauntedly proposed "immediately to send an emba.s.sy from the council to the hotel, in order to welcome the distinguished guest, and to offer Faustus four hundred gold guilders for his Latin Bible, and thereby to appease him, and to make him favourable to the state."

The mayor scoffed at the idea of giving four hundred gold guilders for a thing which the day before they might, in all probability, have had for one hundred; but his jeers and his scoffs availed nothing. "_Salus populi suprema lex_," cried the alderman; and, with the approbation of the council, he commanded the mayor to entertain Faustus and the envoy in the most sumptuous manner, at the expense of the state.

This circ.u.mstance consoled his wors.h.i.+p, who willingly displayed his wealth, partly on account of his defeat by the alderman, while the concluding words, "at the expense of the state," put him in good humour.

The junior alderman immediately set out with one of the four syndics, and the mayor sent to his house to order every thing proper for the festival.

The devil Leviathan was engaged with Faustus in a deep discourse when these amba.s.sadors were announced. They were instantly admitted. They welcomed, with all humility, in the name of the senate, the distinguished guest, and gave him to understand that his n.o.ble person, as well as his important errand, were well known to them; a.s.suring him at the same time, in set terms, of their zeal and devotion for the high imperial house.

The Devil, upon this, screwed up his features, turned to Faustus, took him by the hand, and a.s.sured the speakers that nothing had brought him to their town but the desire of removing from it this great man, whom he had no doubt they knew how to prize. The amba.s.sadors were now somewhat disturbed; however, they soon recollected themselves, and continued thus:

"It rejoiced them highly that they could give him on the spot a convincing proof of the respect which the magistracy entertained for so great a man, as they were authorised to tender to Faustus four hundred gold guilders for his Latin Bible, which they had long been anxious to possess, and preserve as a precious treasure. The ill.u.s.trious magistracy would also be most happy to enrol him, if it were agreeable, among the number of citizens, and thereby open to him the way to glory and emolument."

This last stroke was added by their own political wisdom; a proof that they, as skilful negotiators, knew how to supply and fill up every vacuum which had been at first overlooked.

Faustus started up in a fury, stamped on the ground, and cried:

"Base, lying, deceitful pack! How long did I not fawn upon you, from the proud patrician down to the shoemaker and the pepper-seller, around whose necks you hang the magisterial insignia, like halters around a.s.ses? And did ye not permit me to wait at your dirty thresholds without deigning me a single look? And now that you hear this n.o.ble personage sees that in me which you did not, you come and would pay me back in my own coin. But see, here is gold; for which you would barter the Holy Roman Empire, provided you could find fools gross enough to buy the huge, monstrous carca.s.s, without head, sense, or proportion."

The Devil highly enjoyed the rage of Faustus and the downcast looks of the young senators; but they, who had never read Roman history, were not so high-spirited as to fling Faustus a declaration of war from beneath their closely-folded robes of office; on the contrary, they communicated the invitation to the mayor's festival in as unconcerned a tone as if nothing had happened,--a new proof of their expertness in negotiation.

Had they, for example, replied to the insult, they would thereby have acknowledged that they felt the force of it; but when they let it fall flat upon the ground, as if it were nothing to any of them, it lost all its power, and a.s.sumed the colour of an unfair reproach. Genius alone is capable in such critical moments of like discrimination.

At the word "mayor," Faustus p.r.i.c.ked up his ears, and the Devil gave him a significant side-glance. Faustus thereupon took the Bible from the casket, handed it over to the senators, and said, with some degree of complaisance,

"That, upon due consideration, he was determined to make the city a present of his Bible, on condition that they showed the sentence which he marked under, and of which he wrote a German translation on the margin, to the a.s.sembled magistrates; and, in remembrance of him, caused it to be written in letters of gold on the wall of the council-chamber."

The senators hastened back to their brethren, as delighted as envoys who, after a ruinous war, return with an advantageous peace. They were received with great joy, and, the Bible being opened at the appointed place, they read--

"_And lo_!_ the fools sat in council_, _and idiots clamoured in the judgment-chamber_."

They swallowed this bitter pill, because the presumptive shadow of imperial majesty, in the form of the demon, prevented them from spitting it out. They comforted themselves with having been spared the four hundred gold guilders, and wished each other joy for having escaped so well out of this unpleasant affair. The envoys received a vote of thanks, and it is to be regretted that their names are not handed down to posterity. When at last they spoke of Faustus's well-filled money-chest, the glitter of gold darted like lightning through the souls of all, and each secretly determined to make the man his friend, in order to get possession of it. The alderman shouted, "We must make him a citizen, and give him a seat and voice in the council. Policy demands that we should overstep law and custom, if the advantage of the State depends upon it."

Faustus, in the mean time, strolled out with the Devil; but they found the people of the place modelled after so unsightly a pattern, with such ugly figures and fiat features, that the Devil owned he had never seen them equalled, except by the inhabitants of an English town called N---, when dressed in their Sunday's best. "Envy, malice, curiosity, and avarice," said he, "are here and there the sole springs of action; and both places are governed by a pitiful mercantile spirit, which prevents them from being grandly wicked or n.o.bly virtuous. In short, Faustus, there is little to be done in either place by a man of spirit, and we will hurry away from hence as soon as you have brought the mayoress to the point you wish her."

The clock sounded the hour of dinner; the Devil and Faustus, mounted upon n.o.ble horses, and attended by a numerous retinue, proceeded to the house of the mayor. They entered the hall of a.s.sembly, where all the magistrates awaited them, and, on their appearance, bowed before them even to the dust. The fat, bloated mayor, after a long speech, introduced them to the wives of the dignitaries of the corporation, whose figures, loaded with tawdry ornaments, seemed now to display a double portion of awkwardness and vulgarity. They stared like a flock of geese, and could not satiate themselves with looking at the dress and physiognomy of Leviathan; but the mayoress, a native of Saxony, towered above them all, like an Oriad. The expressive look of Faustus had attracted her attention, as well as his prepossessing figure, and his fine handsome face. She blushed when he saluted her, and could find no other answer to his eloquent address than a few broken words, which the ears of Faustus caught like enchanting music. The senators exerted their wits to the utmost in complimenting their guests, and all now sat down to the well-spread table. After dinner the Devil led the mayor by the hand to a private apartment,--a circ.u.mstance which flattered him extraordinarily, but which was a dagger-blow to all the other guests, especially to the alderman.

The mayor, heated with wine, and intoxicated with the honour which the supposed imperial envoy showed him, in a bending att.i.tude and with staring eyes awaited the communication. The Devil a.s.sured him, in soft, silvery tones, how much he was flattered by the mayor's hospitable reception, and how very desirous he was to prove himself thankful; adding, that he carried with him a number of letters of n.o.bility, signed by the emperor's own hand, and he would gladly bestow the first upon him, provided--

Joy, transport, and astonishment darted through the mayor's soul; he stood before the Devil with wide-gaping mouth, and at length stammered out, "Provided how--what--oh!" The Devil then murmured softly into his ear: "His friend Faustus was desperately in love with the beautiful mayoress, and that for his sake only he would do it; and if the mayoress would retire with Faustus for a few moments,--which would be entirely un.o.bserved amid the noise and confusion of a festival,--he should deliver into her hand the patent of n.o.bility."

Thereupon the Devil hastened to Faustus, informed him of what had happened, and gave him the letter of n.o.bility, with certainty of success.

Faustus doubted, and the Devil laughed at his doubts.

The mayor remained in his cabinet almost petrified. The sudden glitter of such unexpected happiness was at once so clouded by an odious and detestable condition, that he determined upon rejecting it. But all at once Ambition blew into his ear: "Ho! ho! Mr. Mayor; to be dubbed a n.o.bleman at once, and in such an off-hand manner, as the saying is, and thereby to be placed on a footing with the proudest of thy foes, and to raise thy voice in the council like a trumpet, and appear among those there like a man whom, on account of his services, his imperial majesty will exalt above the heads of all!"

Another feeling softly whispered--

"Uh! uh! with my own knowledge and consent to be thus disgraced! But then, again, who will know it? and what is there in the whole affair? I receive a certain good in lieu of what has long ceased to have any charms for me. The evil consists in the idea alone, and it will be a secret between me and my wife. But, stating the case fairly, can I arrive at so high a distinction at a cheaper rate? Will it not be a nail in the alderman's coffin; and what will the citizens not say when they see that his imperial majesty knows how to value me? Shall I not get every thing into my power, and revenge myself on those who have thwarted and contradicted me? Ho! ho! Mr. Mayor; be no fool; seize fortune by the forelock. Man is only what he appears in the eyes of the world, and no one asks the n.o.bleman how he became so. But there is my wife; she will set herself against my advancement, for I well know her Saxon prudery."

At that very moment she entered the room, eager to learn from her husband what the magnificent stranger had confided to him in private. He looked at her with a roguish leer, but still with some degree of bashfulness.

_Mayor_. Well, my chick, suppose I were to make thee a n.o.blewoman to-day?

_Mayoress_. Then, duck, the wives of all the citizens and magistrates would swoon with envy, and the alderman's lady would instantly die of that husky cough which has so long a.s.sailed her.

_Mayor_. That she would, for certain; and I could crush her proud husband beneath my foot. But hark, my chick: it only rests with you to bring all this about.

_Mayoress_. Who ever heard of wives making their husbands n.o.blemen, duck?

_Mayor_. Who knows, my child, how many have been made so? But be not terrified; you have driven that cursed Faustus out of his wits. (_The Mayoress blushed_; _he continued_) Only on his account will the envoy create me a n.o.bleman, and Faustus is to deliver to thee the patent of n.o.bility in private. You understand me, I perceive. Hem! What do you think of the plan?

_Mayoress_. I was thinking, my treasure, that if these two gentlemen were to change their minds, we should certainly lose the patent.

_Mayor_. Curse it! so we might. Let us be quick, my mouse; such bargains are not met with every day.

The company had in the mean while dispersed themselves in the garden; and his wors.h.i.+p, getting behind Faustus, whispered softly in his ear that "his wife would esteem it an honour to receive the patent of n.o.bility from his hand; and he had only to step up a back staircase, which he would show him, to an apartment where he would find her. That as for himself, he feared nothing from a man who had shown so much honour and conscience." He led him thereupon to the back staircase. Faustus glided up immediately, and entered a chamber, where he found the mayoress: he flew to her, and created the mayor a knight of the Holy Roman Empire.

She then went and delivered to her spouse the letter of n.o.bility; and they determined between them that it should be laid upon the supper-table in a covered golden dish, in order, by its unexpected appearance, to make the blow more painful to the guests. The Devil, to whom the mayor confided the plan, highly approved of it; but Faustus murmured in the ear of Leviathan, "I command thee to play this rascal, who has prost.i.tuted his wife for ambition's sake, a thorough knavish trick; and to revenge me, at the same time, on all these sheep-headed magistrates, who so long forced me to pay my court to them."

They sat down to supper, and the gla.s.ses went quickly round; when all at once the Devil commanded the dish, which had so long excited the Curiosity of the surrounders, to be uncovered; then, holding up the letter of n.o.bility, he delivered it to the mayor with these words: "Worthy sir, his majesty the emperor, my master, is pleased by this patent letter of n.o.bility to create you, on account of your fidelity and services, a knight of the Holy Roman Empire. I hope and trust that you will never grow lukewarm in your zeal for the high imperial house; and now, Sir Knight, I have the honour of first drinking your health."

These words rolled like thunder in the ears of the guests. The drunken became sober, and the sober drunk; the lips of the women turned blue with rage, and could scarcely stammer out a congratulation. The alderman was seized with an apoplectic fit, and his wife was near dying of her husky cough. Fear, in the mean time, obliged the rest to a.s.sume a joyous countenance; and they drank, with a loud huzza, the health of the new-made knight. While the tumult was at the highest pitch, a thin vapour suddenly filled the hall; the gla.s.ses began to dance about upon the tables; and the roasted geese, turkeys, and fowls cackled, gobbled, and crowed. The calves, sheep, and boars' heads cried, bleated, and grunted, bounced across the table, and snapped at the fingers of the guests. The wine issued in blue flames from out the flasks; and the patent of n.o.bility caught fire, and was burnt to ashes in the hands of the trembling mayor. The whole a.s.sembly now sat like so many ridiculous characters in a mad masquerade. The mayor bore a stag's head upon his shoulders; and the rest, men and women, adorned with grotesque masks, spoke, cackled, crowed, neighed, or bellowed, according to the kind of mask which had been allotted to each individual. The alderman alone, in the dress of a harlequin, sat motionless; and Faustus avowed to the Devil that the ruse did great honour to his ingenuity. After Faustus had satiated himself by gazing at the spectacle, he gave the Devil the wink, and they both flew out of the window; the latter personage, according to custom, leaving behind him the sulphurous stench.

By and by the whole illusion disappeared; and when the sapient magistrates re-a.s.sembled next morning in the council-chamber, they scarcely mentioned to each other what had taken place the night before.

They kept the whole matter a state secret, and only revealed it now and then to a chosen few. All that the mayor got by this business was, that his adversary, the alderman, lost the use of his limbs, and never again took his seat in the council.