Faust (10 page)
Authors: Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
| | Poodle, be quiet! Stop racing back and forth! |
| | Why must you sniff at the threshold? |
| | Come now, lie down behind the stove, |
| | I’ll give you my softest pillow. |
| 1190 | On the road out in the rolling meadows |
| | your leaps and capers entertained us well; |
| | you did enough to earn my hospitality; |
| | lie still then and be my welcome guest. |
| | Ah, when the friendly lamp is burning |
| | and glows within our narrow cell, |
| | the darkened self grows clear again, |
| | the heart that knows itself will brighten. |
| | The voice of reason can be heard, |
| | and hope begins to bloom again; |
| 1200 | we crave to hold within our grasp |
| | the streams of life and ah, its sources! |
| | Poodle, stop growling! that brutish snarl |
| | is not in tune with the sacred sound |
| | that now enthralls my soul. |
| | I am used to men who mock and scorn |
| | the things beyond their comprehension, |
| | who mutter at the Good and Beautiful |
| | because it is often too much trouble. |
| | Will the dog snarl his displeasure like men? |
| 1210 | But ah! though I am full of good intention, |
| | contentment flows no longer from my breast. |
| | Why must this stream run dry so soon |
| | and I be parched and thirsty once again? |
| | I’ve had more than my share of it, |
| | but I am able to relieve this want: |
| | one learns to prize the supernatural, |
| | one yearns for highest Revelation, |
| | which nowhere burns more nobly and more bright |
| | than here in my New Testament. |
| 1220 | I feel impelled to read this basic text |
| | and to transpose the hallowed words, |
| | with feeling and integrity, |
| | into my own beloved German. |
| | ( He opens a volume and begins .) |
| | It is written: “In the beginning was the Word!” 12 |
| | Even now I balk. Can no one help? |
| | I truly cannot rate the word so high. |
| | I must translate it otherwise. |
| | I believe the Spirit has inspired me |
| | and I must write: “In the beginning there was Mind.” |
| 1230 | Think thoroughly on this first line, |
| | hold back your pen from undue haste! |
| | Is it mind that stirs and makes all things? |
| | The text should state: “In the beginning there was Power!” |
| | Yet while I am about to write this down, |
| | something warns me I will not adhere to this. |
| | The Spirit’s on my side! The answer is at hand: |
| | I write, assured, “In the beginning was the Deed.” |
| | If you wish to share this cell with me, |
| | poodle, stop your yowling; |
| 1240 | bark no more. |
| | A nuisance such as you |
| | I cannot suffer in my presence. |
| | One of us must leave this room; |
| | I now reluctantly suspend |
| | the law of hospitality. |
| | The door is open, you are free to go. |
| | But what is this? |
| | Is this a natural occurrence? |
| | Is it shadow or reality? |
| 1250 | How broad and long my poodle waxes! |
| | He rises up with mighty strength; |
| | this is no dog’s anatomy! |
| | What a specter did I bring into my house! |
| | Now he’s very like a river horse |
| | with glowing eyes and vicious teeth. |
| | Oh! I am sure of you! |
| | For such a half-satanic brood |
| | the key of Solomon will do. |
| | Someone is caught within! |
| 1260 | Stay out, and no one follow! |
| | Like the fox in a snare |
| | The hell-lynx quakes. |
| | But take good care! |
| | Hover here, hover there, |
| | Flit up and down, |
| | And once he’s loose, |
| | You may be of use, |
| | Don’t leave him in the lurch. |
| | Remember that to all of us |
| 1270 | He granted many favors. |
| | First, to confront the brute |
| | I must use the Spell of the Four. |
| | Glow, Salamander |
| | Undine, coil |
| | Sylph, meander |
| | Kobold, toil. 14 |
| | Whoever is ignorant |
| | of the four elements, |
| | of the strength they wield |
| 1280 | and of their quality, |
| | cannot master |
| | the band of the spirits. |
| | Vanish in flames, |
| | Salamander! |
| | In foam merge and flow, |
| | Undine! |
| | Light your stellar dome, |
| | Sylph! |
| | Bring comfort to the home, |
| 1290 | Incubus, Incubus! |
| | Emerge and end it all. |
| | None of the four |
| | is lodged in the beast. |
| | He lies quite still and grins at me. |
| | I have not stung him yet. |
| | I shall strike his core |
| | with stronger conjurations. |
| | Have you come to my cell |
| | A refugee from Hell? |
| 1300 | Then mark you this sign 15 |
| | To which all must incline, |
| | All the black legions. |
| | His fur is bristling now, and he swells and puffs! |
| | Contemptible creature! |
| | Face the Teacher! |
| | The unconfined, |
| | Never defined, |
| | Heavenly presence |
| | Pierced on the Cross. |
| 1310 | My spell holds him fast behind the stove; |
| | now he swells to elephantine size |
| | and fills the chamber with his bulk. |
| | Now he wants to turn to vapor. |
| | Do not rise up to the ceiling! |
| | Lie at your master’s feet! |
| | You see, my threats are not in vain, |
| | I scorch you with the sacred fire! |
| | Do not await |
| | the threefold glowing light! 16 |
| 1320 | Do not await |
| | the mightiest of my powers! |
| | ( While the mist falls away , MEPHISTOPHELES steps from behind the stove. He is dressed as a traveling scholar .) |
| | Why all this noise? What is the gentleman’s pleasure? |
| | So this was the poodle’s core! |
| | One of the traveling scholars. This casus makes me chuckle. |
| | I salute the learned gentleman; |
| | I’ve sweated mightily for you. |
| | What is your name? |
| | This seems a trifling question |
| | for one so scornful of the word, |
| | for one removed from every outward show |
| 1330 | who always reaches for the inmost core. |
| | The essence of the like of you |
| | is usually inherent in the name. |
| | It appears in all-too-great transparency |
| | in names like Lord of Flies, Destroyer, Liar. |
| | All right, who are you then? |
| | A portion of that power |
| | which always works for Evil and effects the Good. |
| | What is the meaning of this riddle? |
| | I am the spirit that denies forever! |
| | And rightly so! What has arisen from the void |
| 1340 | deserves to be annihilated. |
| | It would be best if nothing ever would arise. |
| | And thus what you call havoc, |
| | deadly sin, or briefly stated: Evil, |
| | that is my proper element. |
| | You call yourself a part and yet you stand before me whole? |
| | I state the modest truth to you. |
| | While every member of your race—that little world of fools— |
| | likes best of all to think himself complete— |
| | I am a portion of that part which once was everything, |
| 1350 | a part of darkness which gave birth to Light, |
| | that haughty Light which now disputes the rank |
| | and ancient sway of Mother Night; |
| | and though it tries its best, it won’t succeed |
| | because it cleaves and sticks to bodies. |
| | The bodies mill about, Light beautifies the bodies, |
| | yet bodies have forever blocked its way— |
| | and so I hope it won’t be long |
| | before all bodies are annihilated. |
| | Now I know your noble duties. |
| 1360 | You cannot wreck the larger entities, |
| | and so you nibble away at the smaller things. |
| | It isn’t much when all is said and done. |
| | What stands opposed to Nothingness— |
| | the bungling earth, that something more or less— |
| | in spite of all I undertook |
| | I could not get my hands on it. |
| | After waves and quakes and fires, |
| | the lands and seas are still intact, |
| | and all that cursèd stuff, the brood of beasts and men, |
| 1370 | is too tenacious to be shaken. |
| | Think of the multitudes I buried! |
| | Yet there is always fresh new blood in circulation. |
| | And so it goes; it drives me to distraction. |
| | In air and earth and water, |
| | through dryness, dampness, warmth, and cold, |
| | a thousand seeds will push their way to life. |
| | Had I neglected to reserve the flame for me, |
| | I should now be quite without a specialty. |
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