Faust (28 page)

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Authors: Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

BOOK: Faust
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GENERAL.

 
Who wants to put his faith in nations,
 
no matter what you’ve done for them?
 
For with the people just as with a woman
 
the prize goes always to the young.

MINISTER.

4080
They have abandoned all that’s good these days.
 
Bring me back the older generation;
 
for when we better men held sway
 
it was a happy, golden age.

PARVENU.

 
We were not altogether stupid either;
 
here and there we made some tricky deals.
 
But now the world is topsy-turvy,
 
just when we meant to keep the status quo.

AUTHOR.

 
Who would want to read these days
 
a work of any depth and compass?
4090
As for the touted younger generation,
 
I never saw one more irreverent.

MEPHISTOPHELES
(
who suddenly looks very old
)
.

 
Now that I scale this magic hill a final time,
 
I feel that men are ripe for Judgment Day;
 
and since my keg is running dry,
 
the world has reached the edge of time.

PEDDLER-WITCH.

 
Gentlemen, pray give me some attention!
 
Don’t pass up this golden opportunity!
 
Pay close attention to my wares.
 
Some curious things are on display.
4100
You’ll find no single object in my shop—
 
the like of which you never saw on earth—
 
that has not caused at least on one occasion
 
some splendid hurt to man and nature.
 
No dagger here from which no blood has spurted,
 
no cup from which corrosive poison
 
has not flowed into a healthy body;
 
no gem that did not trip a lovely maiden,
 
no sword that did not slash through sacred trusts
 
or pierce an adversary from behind.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

4110
Cousin, you are way behind the times.
 
What’s done is past! What’s past is done!
 
You should go in for novelties!
 
Something new is what we want.

FAUST.

 
If only I could keep my mind from snapping,
 
I’d call this fair a fair to end all fairs!

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
There is an upward swirl and jostle here;
 
he who’s pushed imagines that he’s pushing.

FAUST.

 
Who’s that girl?

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
                                   Observe her very closely!
 
She is Lilith.

FAUST.

 
              Who?

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
                                   The first of Adam’s wives.
52
4120
Be on guard against her lovely hair,
 
against adornments that outshine all others.
 
When a man is tangled in its toils,
 
Lilith will not lightly let him go.

FAUST.

 
Two sit over there, one old and haggard and one young;
 
both have danced and whirled about, it seems.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
Today there is no rest for you;
 
the dance resumes. Let’s get into the fray.

FAUST
(
dancing with the
YOUNG WITCH
)
.

 
              Once I fell to pleasant dreaming:
 
              I saw a sturdy apple tree
4130
              With two apples on it gleaming
53
 
              I climbed it, for they tempted me.

PRETTY WITCH.

 
              You want apples of a pleasing size;
 
              You’ve looked for them since paradise.
 
              I am thrilled with joy and pleasure,
 
              For my garden holds such treasure.

MEPHISTOPHELES
(
dancing with the
OLD WITCH
)
.

 
              Once I had a savage dream:
 
              I saw an ancient, cloven tree
 
              In which a giant hole did gleam;
 
              Big as it was, it suited me.

OLD WITCH.

4140
              Let me salute and welcome you;
 
              The cloven hoof shows through your shoe!
 
              A giant stopper will ensure
 
              That you can fill the aperture.
54

PROCTOPHANTASMIST
.
55

 
Shameless mob! What on earth is this?
 
Has it not been proven long ago:
 
Spirits do not walk on solid ground?
 
Now you presume to dance like one of us!

PRETTY WITCH
(
dancing
)
.

 
What could he be doing at our ball?

FAUST
(
dancing
)
.

 
You may find him anywhere, my dear.
4150
When others dance, he’s got to criticize,
 
and if he fails to criticize a step,
 
that step might just as well have not been taken.
 
His chagrin grows most severe when we move forward.
 
If we would only spin around in circles,
 
the way he grinds his ancient mill,
 
he may at best abstain from censure,
 
especially if you loudly sing his praises.

PROCTOPHANTASMIST.

 
You are still here! Incredible, such insolence!
 
Clear out! We are enlightened, don’t you know?
4160
The devil’s pack ignores all rules and standards.
 
We are so smart, but still the ghosts haunt Tegel.
56
 
How I have worked to clear the air of superstition!
 
But—such insolence—the folly still clings everywhere.

PRETTY WITCH.

 
Now go away, you’re boring us to tears!

PROCTOPHANTASMIST.

 
I must tell you, spirits, to your face:
 
I won’t accept your spectral impositions
 
because they can’t be classified.
 
        (
The dancing continues
.)
 
Right now it seems that I can do but little,
 
but I am always pleased to take a trip.
57
4170
Before I take my final step,
 
I’ll vanquish both the devils and the poets.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
Now he will squat upon the nearest puddle—
 
in this manner he relieves his trouble;
 
and when the leeches gorge themselves on his behind
 
he will be cured of spirits and of mind.
 
        (
To
FAUST
,
who has left his dancing partner and stands alone
.)
 
Why did you ditch your dancing partner
 
who sang so sweetly to the music?

FAUST.

 
Ah, right in the middle of her melody
 
a scarlet mouse sprang from her lips.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

4180
That’s nothing much. You need not be alarmed;
 
the mouse was after all not gray.
 
Who’d ask questions in so sweet an hour?

FAUST.

 
And then I saw—

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
              What?

FAUST.

 
                                   Mephisto, do you see
 
a pale and lovely child, far away and quite alone?
 
She is gliding slowly from her place;
 
she appears to move with fettered feet.
 
I must confess, it seems to me
 
that she resembles my dear Gretchen.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
Leave that be! It bodes no good to anyone.
4190
It is a lifeless magic shape, an idol;
 
it is unwise to meet it anywhere.
 
Its rigid stare congeals the blood of men
 
so that they nearly turn to stone.
 
You’ve heard of the Medusa, I suppose.

FAUST.

 
Now I see a dead girl’s eyes
 
which were never closed by loving hands.
 
That is the breast which Gretchen yielded me,
 
the blessed body I enjoyed.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
You are too gullible, you fool! It’s make-believe!
4200
To all she seems their own beloved.

FAUST.

 
What ecstasy! What anguish and despair!
 
I cannot turn my eyes away.
 
How strange a single crimson thread,
 
no broader than a razor’s edge,
 
would look upon her lovely throat.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
Quite right. Now I can see it too. What’s more,
 
she also holds her head beneath her arm,
 
since Perseus struck it from her trunk.
58
 
Must you always hanker after phantoms?
4210
Climb up that little hill with me;
 
it is as lively as the Prater
59
there.
 
And unless I’m totally bewitched,
 
I see a ready stage and curtain.
 
What are they doing?

SERVIBILIS
.
60

 
                                   They will resume in just a moment.
 
Another piece, the last of seven pieces.
 
It is the custom here to show a lot.
 
An amateur composed the play,
 
and amateurs make up the cast.
 
Allow me, sirs, to disappear
4220
and be an amateurish curtain-raiser.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

 
I am glad to find you on the Brocken,
 
for that’s the proper place for you.
WALPURGIS-NIGHT’S DREAM
or
OBERON AND TITANIA’S GOLDEN WEDDING
61

Intermezzo

THEATER MANAGER.

 
              Let us rest today for once,
 
              
my excellent sons of Mieding.
62
 
              “Ancient hill and greening vale”
 
              is all the scenery required.

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