FIST
by Goethe
Part One / Scenes 4 to 6
| Scene IV: The Study |
A knock? Enter! Who’s plaguing me again? 1530
Three times you must say it, then.
Ah, now, you please me.
I hope we’ll get along together:
To drive away the gloomy weather,
I’m dressed like young nobility, 1535
In a scarlet gold-trimmed coat,
In a little silk-lined cloak,
A cockerel feather in my hat,
With a long, pointed sword,
And I advise you, at that, 1540
To do as I do, in a word:
So that, footloose, fancy free,
You can experience life, with me.
This life of earth, its narrowness,
Pains me, however I’m turned out, 1545
I’m too old to play about,
Too young, still, to be passionless.
What can the world bring me again?
Abstain! You shall! You must! abstain!
That’s the eternal song 1550
That in our ears, forever, rings
The one, that, our whole life long,
Every hour, hoarsely, sings.
I wake in terror with the dawn,
I cry, the bitterest tears, to see 1555
Day grant no wish of mine, not one
As it passes by on its journey.
Even presentiments of joy
Ebb, in wilful depreciation:
A thousand grimaces life employs 1560
To hinder me in creation.
Then when night descends I must
Stretch out, worried, on my bed:
What comes to me is never rest,
But some wild dream instead. 1565
The God that lives inside my heart,
Can rouse my innermost seeing:
The one enthroned beyond my art,
Can’t stir external being:
And so existence is a burden: sated, 1570
Death’s desired, and life is hated.
Yet Death’s a guest who’s visit’s never wholly celebrated.
Happy the man whom victory enhances,
Whose brow the bloodstained laurel warms,
Who, after the swift whirling dances, 1575
Finds himself in some girls’s arms!
If only, in my joy, then, I’d sunk down
Before that enrapturing Spirit power!
Yet someone, from a certain brown
Liquid, drank not a drop, at midnight hour. 1580
It seems that you delight in spying.
I know a lot: and yet I’m not all-knowing.
When sweet familiar tones drew me,
Away from the tormenting crowd,
Then my other childhood feelings 1585
Better times echoed, and allowed.
So I curse whatever snares the soul,
In its magical, enticing arms,
Banishes it to this mournful hole,
With dazzling, seductive charms! 1590
Cursed be those high opinions first,
With which the mind entraps itself!
Then glittering appearance curse,
In which the senses lose themselves!
Curse what deceives us in our dreaming, 1595
With thoughts of everlasting fame!
Curse the flattery of ‘possessing’
Wife and child, lands and name!
Curse Mammon, when he drives us
To bold acts to win our treasure: 1600
Or straightens out our pillows
For us to idle at our leisure!
Curse the sweet juice of the grape!
Curse the highest favors Love lets fall!
Cursed be Hope! Cursed be Faith, 1605
And cursed be patience most of all!
Choir of Spirits (Unseen)
Sorrow! Sorrow!
You’ve destroyed it,
The beautiful world,
With a powerful fist: 1610
It tumbles, it’s hurled
To ruin! A demigod crushed it!
We carry
Fragments into the void,
And sadly 1615
Lament the beauty that’s gone.
Stronger
For all of Earth’s sons,
Brighter,
Build it again, 1620
Build, in your heart!
Life’s new start,
Begin again,
With senses washed clean,
And sound, then, 1625
A newer art!
They’re little, but fine,
These attendants of mine.
Precocious advice they give, listen,
Regarding both action, and passion! 1630
Into the World outside,
From Solitude, that’s dried
Your sap and senses,
They tempt us.
Stop playing with grief, 1635
That feeds, a vulture, on your breast,
The worst society, you’ll find, will prompt prompt,
That’s a man among the rest.
Not that I mean
To shove you into the mass. 1640
Among ‘the greats’, I’m second-class:
But if you, in my company,
Your path through life would be wend,
I’ll willingly condescend
To serve you, as we go. 1645
I’m your man, and so,
If it suits you of course,
I’m your slave: I’m yours!
And what must I do in exchange?
There’s lots of time: you’ve got the gist. 1650
No, no! The Devil is an egotist,
Does nothing lightly, or in God’s name,
To help another, so I insist,
Speak your demands out loud,
Such servants are risks, in a house. 1655
I’ll be your servant here, and I’ll
Not stop or rest, at your decree:
When we’re together, on the other side,
You’ll do the same for me.
The ‘other side’ concerns me less: 1660
Shatter this world, in pieces,
The other one can take its place,
The root of my joy’s on this Earth,
And this Sun lights my sorrow:
If I must part from them tomorrow, 1665
What can or will be that I’ll face.
I’ll hear no more of it, of whether
In that future, men both hate and love,
Or whether in those spheres, forever,
We’re given a below and an above. 1670
In that case, you can venture all.
Commit yourself: today, you shall
View my arts with joy: I mean
To show you what no man has seen.
Poor devil what can you give? When has ever 1675
A human spirit, in its highest endeavor,
Been understood by such a one as you?
You have a never-satiating food,
You have your restless gold, a slew
Of quicksilver, melting in the hand, 1680
Games whose prize no man can land,
A girl, who while she’s on my arm,
Snares a neighbor, with her eyes:
And Honor’s fine and godlike charm,
That, like a meteor, this? 1685
Show me fruits then that rot, before they’re ready.
And trees grown green again, each day, too!
Such commands don’t frighten me:
With such treasures I can truly serve you.
Still, my good friend, a time may come, 1690
When one prefers to eat what’s good in peace.
When I lie quiet in bed, at ease.
Then let my time be done!
If you fool me, with flatteries,
Till my own self’s a joy to me, 1695
If you snare me with luxury –
Let that be the last day I see!
That bet I’ll make!
And quickly!
When, to the moment then, I say:
‘Ah, stay a while! You are so lovely! ’1700
Then you can grasp me: then you may,
Then, to my ruin, I’ll go gladly!
Then they can ring the passing bell,
Then from your service you are free,
The clocks may halt, the hands be still, 1705
And time be past and done, for me!
Consider well, we’ll not forget.
You have your rights, complete:
I never over-estimate my powers.
I’ll be a slave, in defeat: 1710
Why ask whose slave or yours?
Today, likewise, at the Doctors ’Feast
I’ll do my duty as your servant.
One thing, though! – Re: life and death, I want
A few lines from you, at the least. 1715
You pedant, you demand it now in writing?
You still won’t take Man’s word for anything?
It’s not enough that the things I say,
Will always accord with my future?
The world never ceases to wear away, 1720
And shall a promise bind me, then, forever?
Yet that’s the illusion in our minds,
And who then would be free of it?
Happy the man, who finds pure truth,
And who’ll never deign to sacrifice it! 1725
Still a document, written and signed,
That’s a ghost makes all men fear it.
The word is already dying in the pen,
And wax and leather hold the power then.
What do you want from me base spirit? 1730
Will iron: marble: parchment: paper do it?
Shall I write with stylus, pen or chisel?
I’ll leave the whole decision up to you.
Why launch into oratory too?
Hot tempered: you exaggerate as well. 1735
Any bit of paper’s just as good.
And you can sign it with a drop of blood.
If it will satisfy you, and it should,
Then let’s complete the farce in full.
Blood is a very special fluid. 1740
Have no fear I’ll break this pact!
The extreme I can promise you: it is
All the power my efforts can extract.
I’ve puffed myself up so highly
I belong in your ranks now. 1745
The mighty Spirit scorns me
And nature shuts me out.
The thread of thought has turned to dust,
Knowledge fills me with disgust.
Let the depths of sensuality 1750
Satisfy my burning passion!
And, its impenetrable mask on,
Let every marvel be prepared for me!
Let’s plunge into time’s torrent,
Into the whirlpools of event! 1755
Then let joy, and distress,
Frustration, and success,
Follow each other, as well they can:
Restless activity proves the man!
No goal or measure’s set for you. 1760
Do as you wish, nibble at everything,
Catch at fragments while you’re flying,
Enjoy it all, whatever you find to do.
Now grab at it, and don’t be stupid!
It’s not joy we’re about: you heard it. 1765
I’ll take the frenzy, pain-filled elation,
Loving hatred, enlivening frustration.
Cured of its urge to know, my mind
In future, will not hide from any pain,
And what is shared by all mankind, 1770
In my innermost self, I’ll contain:
My soul will grasp the high and low,
My heart accumulate its bliss and woe,
So this self will embrace all theirs,
That, in the end, their fate it shares. 1775
Believe me, many a thousand year
They’ve chewed hard food, and yet
From the cradle to the beer,
Not one has ever digested it!
Trust one of us, this Whole thing 1780
What only made for a god’s delight!
In eternal splendor he is dwelling,
He placed us in the darkness quite,
And only gave you day and night.
But, I want! 1785
That’s good to hear!
Yet I’ve a fear, just the one:
Time is short, and art is long.
I think you need instruction.
Join forces with a poet: use poetry,
Let him roam in imagination, 1790
You’ll gain every noble quality
From your honorary occupation,
The lion’s brave attitude
The wild stag’s swiftness,
The Italian’s fiery blood, 1795
The North’s persistence.
Let him find the mysterious
Meeting of generous and devious,
While you, with passions young and hot,
Fall in love, according to the plot. 1800
I’d like to see such a gentleman, among us,
And I’d call him Mister Microcosmus.
What am I then, if it’s a flight too far,
For me to gain that human crown
I yearn towards with every sense I own? 1805
In the end, you are – what you are.
Set your hair in a thousand curlicues
Place your feet in yard-high shoes,
You’ll remain forever, what you are.
All the treasures of the human spirit 1810
I feel that I’ve expended, uselessly.
And wherever, at the last, I sit,
No new power flows, in me.
I’m not a hair’s breadth taller, as you see,
And I’m no nearer to Infinity. 1815
My dear sir, you see the thing
Exactly as all men see it: why,
We must re-order everything,
Before the joys of life slip by.
Hang it! Hands and feet, belong to you, 1820
Certainly, a head, and a backside,
Yet everything I use as new
Why is my ownership of it denied?
When I can count on six stallions,
Isn’t their horsepower mine to use? 1825
I drive behind, and am a proper man,
As though I’d twenty-four legs, too.
Look lively! Leave the senses be,
And plunge into the world with me!
I say to you that scholarly fellows 1830
Are like the cattle on an arid heath:
Some evil spirit leads them round in circles,
While sweet green meadows lie beneath.
How shall we begin then?
From here, we’ll first win free.
What kind of a martyr’s hole can this be? 1835
What kind of a teacher of life is he,
Who fills young minds with ennui?
Let your neighbors do it, and go!
Do you want to thresh straw forever?
The best things you can ever know, 1840
You dare not tell the youngsters, ever.
I hear one of them arriving, too!
I’ve no desire to see him, though.
The poor lad’s waited hours for you.
He mustn’t go away un-consoled. 1845
Come: give me your cap and gown.
The mask should look delicious. So!
(He disguises himself.)
Now I’ve lost what it’s my own!
I want fifteen minutes with him, only:
Meanwhile get ready for our journey! 1850
Mephistopheles (In Faust’s long gown.)
Reason and Science you despise,
Man’s highest powers: now the lies
Of the deceiving spirit must bind you
With those magic arts that blind you,
And I’ll have you, totally – 1855
Fate gave him such a spirit
It urges him ever onwards, wildly,
And, in his hasty striving, he has leapt
Beyond all earth’s ecstasies.
I’ll drag him through raw life, 1860
Through the meaningless and shallow,
I’ll freeze him: stick to him: keep him ripe,
Frustrate his insatiable greed, allow
Food and drink to drift before his eyes:
In vain he’ll beg for consummation, 1865
And if he weren’t the devil’s, why
He’d still go to his ruination!
(A student enters.)
I’m only here momentarily,
I’ve come filled with humility,
To speak to, and to stand before, 1870
One who’s spoken of with awe.
Your courtesy delights me greatly!
A man like other men you see.
Have you studied then, elsewhere?
I beg you, please enrol me, here! 1875
I come to you strong of courage,
Lined in pocket, healthy for my age:
My mother didn’t want to lose me: though,
I’d like to learn what it’s right for me to know.
Then you’ve come to the right place, exactly. 1880
To be honest, I’d like to go already:
There’s little pleasure for me at all,
In these walls, and all these halls.
It’s such a narrow space I find,
You see no trees, no leaves of any kind, 1885
And in the lectures, on the benches,
All thought deserts me, and my senses.
It will only come to you with habit.
So the child takes its mother’s breast
Quite unwillingly at first, and yet it 1890
Soon sucks away at her with zest.
So you want at Wisdom’s breast, here,
Feel every day a little zestier.
I’ll cling to her neck with pleasure:
But only tell me how to find her. 1895
Explain, before you travel on
What faculty you’ve settled on.
I want to be a true scholar,
I want to grasp, by the collar,
What’s on earth, in heaven above, 1900
In Science, and in Nature too.
Then here’s the very path for you,
But don’t allow yourself to wander off.
I’ll be present heart and soul:
Of course I’ll want to play, 1905
Have some fun and freedom, though,
On each sweet summer holiday.
Use your time well: it slips away so fast, yet
Discipline will teach you how to win it.
My dear friend, I’d advise, in sum, 1910
First, the Collegium Logicum.
There your mind will be trained,
As if in Spanish boots, constrained,
So that painfully, as it ought,
It creeps along the way of thought, 1915
Not flitting about all over,
Wandering here and there.
So you’ll learn, in many days,
What you used to do, untaught, as in a haze,
Like eating now, and drinking, you’ll see 1920
The necessity of one! Two! Three!
Truly the intricacy of logic
It’s like a master weaver’s fabric,
Where the loom holds a thousand threads,
Here and there the shuttles go 1925
And the threads, invisibly, flow,
One pass serves for a thousand instead.
Then the philosopher steps in: he’ll show
That it certainly had to be like this:
The first was – so, the second – so, 1930
And so, the third and fourth were – so:
If first and second had never been,
Third and fourth would not be seen.
All prize the scholars, beyond believing,
But few of them ever turn to weaving. 1935
To know and note the living, you’ll find it
Best to first dispense with the spirit:
Then with the pieces in your hand,
Ah! You’ve only lost the spiritual bond.
‘Natural treatment’, Chemistry calls it 1940
Mocks at herself, and doesn’t know it.
I’m not sure that I quite understand.
You’ll soon know it all, as planned,
When you’ve learned the science of reduction,
And everything’s proper classification. 1945
After all that, I feel as stupid
As if I’m a mill wheel in my head.
Next, before all else, you’ll fix it
Your mind on metaphysics!
See that you’re profoundly trained 1950
In what never stirs in a human brain:
You’ll learn a splendid word
For what’s occurred or not occurred.
But for the present take six months
To get yourself in order: start at once. 1955
Five hours every day, lock
Yourself in, with a ticking clock!
Make sure you’re well prepared,
Study each paragraph with care,
So afterwards you’ll be certain 1960
Only what’s in the book, was written:
Then be as diligent when you pen it,
As if the Holy Ghost had said it!
You won’t need to tell me twice!
I think, myself, it’s very helpful, too 1965
That one can take back home, and use,
What someone’s penned in black and white.
But choose a faculty, any one!
I wouldn’t be comfortable with law.
I couldn’t name you anything more 1970
Vile, I know how dogmatic it’s become.
Laws and rights are handed down
It’s an eternal disgrace:
They’re moved round from town to town
Dragged around from place to place. 1975
Reason is nonsense, kindness a disease,
If you’re a grandchild it’s a curse!
The rights we are born with,
To those, alas, no one refers!
That just strengthens my disgust. 1980
Happy the student that you instruct!
I’ve nearly settled on theology.
I wouldn’t wish to guide you erroneously.
In what that branch of knowledge concerns
It’s so difficult to avoid a fallacious route, 1985
There’s so much poison hidden in what you learn,
And it’s barely distinguishable from the antidote.
The best thing here’s to make a single choice,
Then simply swear by your master’s voice.
On the whole, to words stick fast! 1990
Through the safest gate, you’ll pass
To the Temple of Certainty.
Yet surely words must have a sense.
Why, yes! But don’t torment yourself with worry,
Where sense fails it’s only necessary 1995
To supply a word, and change the tense.
With words fine arguments can be weighted,
With words whole systems can be created,
With words, the mind does its conceiving,
No word suffers a jot from thieving. 2000
Forgive me, I delay you with my questions,
But I must trouble you again,
On the subject of Medicine,
Have you no helpful word to say?
Three years, so little time applied, 2005
And, God, the field is rather wide!
If only you had some kind of pointer,
You would feel so much further on.
I’m tired of this desiccated banter
I really must play the devil, at once. 2010
To grasp the spirit of medicine’s easily done:
You study the great and little world, until,
In the end you let it carry on
Just as God wills.
Useless to roam round, scientifically: 2015
Everyone learns only what he can:
The one who grasps the moment fully,
He’s the proper man.
You’re quite a well-made fellow,
You’re not short of courage too, 2020
And when you’re easy with yourself,
Others will be easy with you.
Study, especially, female behavior:
Their eternal aches and woes,
All of the thousand-fold, 2025
Rise from one point, and have one cure.
And if you’re half honorable about it
You shall have them in your pocket.
A title first: to give them comfort you
Have skills that far exceed the others, 2030
Then you’re free to touch the goods, and view
What someone else has prowled around for years.
Take the pulse firmly, you understand,
And then, with sidelong fiery glance,
Grasp the slender hips, in haste, 2035
To find out whether she’s tight-laced.
That sounds much better! The Where and How, I see.
Gray, dear friend, is all theory,
And green the golden tree of life.
I swear it’s like a dream to me: may I 2040
Trouble you, at some further time,
To expound your wisdom, so sublime?
As much as I can, I’ll gladly explain.
I can’t tear myself away,
I must just pass you my album, sir, 2045
Grant me the favor of your signature!
(He writes and gives the book back.)
Student (Reading Mephistopheles ’Latin inscription which means:‘ You’ll be like God, acquainted with good and evil ’.)
Eritis sicut Deus, scientes bonum et malum.
(He makes his bows, and takes his leave.)
Just follow the ancient text, and my mother the snake, too:
And then your liking to God will surely frighten you!
Where will we go, then?
Where you please.
The little world, and then the great, we’ll see.
With what profit and delight,
This term, you’ll be a parasite!
Yet with my long beard, I’ll 2055
Lack life’s superficial style.
My attempt will come to nothing:
I know, in this world, I don’t fit in.
I feel so small next to other men,
It only means embarrassment. 2060
My friend, just give yourself completely to it:
When you find yourself, you’ll soon know how to live it.
How shall we depart from here, then?
I see not one servant, coach, or horse.
We’ll just spread this cloak wide open, 2065
Then through the air we’ll take our course.
For a daring trip like this we’re on,
Better not take much baggage along.
A little hot air I’ll be ready, first,
To lift us nimbly above the Earth, 2070
And as we’re light we’ll get soon clear:
Congratulations on your new career!
Scene V: Auerbach’s Cellar in Leipzig
(Friends happily drinking.)
Will none of you laugh? Nobody drink?
I’ll have to teach you to smile, I think!
You’re all of you like wet straw today, 2075
And usually you’re well away.
That’s up to you, you bring us nothing.
Nothing dumb, or dirty, nothing.
Frog (Pouring a glass of wine over Brander’s head.)
You can have both!
You wanted them both, so you got mine! 2080
Out the door, whoever fights! Get out!
Let’s sing a heart-felt chorus, drink and shout!
Up! Hurray! Ha!
Ah! I’m in agony!
Earplugs, here! This fellow’s deafened me.
It’s only when it echoes in the tower, 2085
You hear a bass voice’s real power.
Right, out with him who takes offense!
Ah! Do, re, me!
Our throats are tuned: commence.
’Dear Holy Roman Empire, 2090
How do you hold together? ’
A lousy song! Bah! A political song –
A tiresome song! Thank God, every morning,
It’s not you who must sit there worrying
About the Empire! At least I’m better for 2095
Not being a king or a chancellor.
But we should have a leader, so
We’ll choose a pop of our own.
You know the qualities that can
Swing the vote, and elevate the man. 2100
‘Sing away, sweet nightingale,
Greet my girl, and never fail. ’
Don’t greet my girl! I’ll not allow it!
Greet and kiss her! You’ll not stop it!
‘Slip the bolt in the deepest night! 2105
Slip it! Wake, the lover bright.
Slip it to! At break of dawn. ’
Yes, sing in precision of her, and boast: sing on!
I’ll laugh later when it suits:
She leads me a dance, she’ll lead you too. 2110
You should have a dwarf for a lover!
At the crossroads, let him woo her:
An old goat from Blocksberg, galloping over,
Can bleat goodnight, as it passes by her.
An honest man, of flesh and blood, 2115
For a girl like that’s far too good.
I’m not bothered even to say hello
Except perhaps to break her window.
Brander (pounding on the table.)
Quiet! Quiet! Or you won’t hear!
I know about life, you lot, confess. 2120
Besotted persons sit among us,
As fits their status, then, I must
Give them, tonight, of my very best.
Lists A song in the newest strain!
And you can shout out the refrain! 2125
‘Once there was a cellar rat,
Who lived on grease, and butter:
He had a belly, round and fat,
Just like Doctor Luther.
The cook set poison round about: 2130
It brought on such a violent bout,
As if he’d love inside him. ’
‘As if he’d love inside him!’
‘He ran here, and he ran there,
And drank from all the puddles, 2135
Gnawing, scratching, everywhere,
But nothing cured his shudders.
In torment, he leapt to the roof,
Poor beast, soon he’d had enough,
As if he’d love inside him. ’2140
‘As if he’d love inside him!’
‘Fear drove him to the light of day,
Into the kitchen then he ran,
Fell on the hearth and twitched away,
Pitifully weak, and wan. 2145
Then the murderess laughed with glee:
He’s on his last legs, I see,
As if he’d love inside him. ’
‘As if he’d love inside him.’
How pleased they are, the tiresome fools! 2150
Spreading poison for wretched rats,
To me, that’s the right thing to do!
You’re in sympathy with them, perhaps?
That fat belly with a balding head!
Bad luck makes him meek and mild: 2155
From a swollen rat, he sees, with dread,
His own natural likes is compiled.
(Faust and Mephistopheles appear.)
First of all, I had to bring you here,
Where cheerful friends sup together,
To see how happily life slips away. 2160
For these folk every day’s a holiday.
With lots of leisure, and little sense,
They revolve in their round dance,
Chasing their tails as kittens prance,
If the hangovers aren’t too intense, 2165
If the landlord gives them credit,
They’re cheerful, and unworried by it.
They’re fresh from their traveling days,
You can tell by their foreign ways:
They’ve not been back an hour: you see. 2170
True, you’re right! My Leipzig’s dear to me!
It’s a little Paris, and educates its people.
Who do you think the strangers are?
Let me find out! I’ll draw the truth,
From those two, with a brimming glass, 2175
As easily as you’d pull a child’s tooth.
It seems to me they’re of some noble house,
They look so discontented and so proud.
They’re surely strolling players, I’d guess!
Watch me screw it out of them, then! 2180
Mephistopheles (To Faust.)
These folk wouldn’t feel the devil, even
If he’d got them dangling by the neck.
Thank you, and greetings.
(He mutters away, inspecting Mephistopheles side-on.)
What’s wrong with his foot: why’s he limping?
Allow us to sit with you, if you please. 2185
Instead of fine ale that can’t be had,
We can still have good company.
You seem a choosy sort of lad.
Was it late when you started out from Rippach?
Perhaps you dined with Hans there, first? 2190
We passed straight by, today, without a rest!
We spoke to him last some time back,
When he talked a lot about his cousins,
And he sent to each his kind greetings.
(He bows to frog.)
He did you, there! He’s smart!
A shrewd customer! 2195
Wait, I’ll have him soon, I’m sure!
If I’m not wrong, we heard
A tuneful choir singing?
I’m sure with this vault, the words
Must really set it ringing! 2200
Are you by any chance a virtuoso?
No! Though my desire is great, my skill is only so-so.
If you wish it, a few.
So long as it’s a brand-new one!
Well, it’s from Spain that we’ve just come, 2205
The lovely land of wine, and singing too.
‘There was once a king, who
Had a giant flea ’
Lists Did you get that? A flea.
A flea’s an honest guest to me. 2210
‘There was once a king, who
Had a giant flea,
He loved him very much, oh,
He was like a son, you see.
The king called for his tailor, 2215
He came right away:
Now, measure up the lad for
A suit of clothes, I say! ’
Make sure the tailor’s sharp,
And cuts them out precisely, 2220
And, since his son’s dear to his heart,
Make sure there’s never a crease to see.
‘All in silk and velvet,
Hey was smartly dressed,
With ribbons on his coat, 2225
A cross upon his chest.
Hey was the First Minister,
And so he wore a star:
His brothers and his sisters,
He made noblest by far. 2230
The lords and the ladies,
They were badly smitten,
The Queen and her maids,
They were stung and asking.
They didn’t dare to crush them, 2235
Or scratch away, all night.
We smother them, and crush them,
The moment that they bite. ’
‘We smother them, and crush them,
The moment that they bite. ’2240
Bravo! Bravo! That went sweetly!
So shall it be with every flea!
Sharpen your nails, and crush them fine!
Long live freedom, and long live wine!
I’d love to drink a glass, in freedom’s honor, 2245
If only the wine were a little better.
Not again, we don’t want to hear!
I fear the landlord might complain
Or I’d give these worthy guests,
One of my cellar’s very best. 2250
Just bring it on! He’ll accept it: I’ll explain.
Make it a good glass and we’ll praise it.
But don’t make it so small we can’t taste it.
Because if I’m truly going to decide,
I need a really big mouthful inside. 2255
They’re from the Rhine, as I guessed.
Bring me a corkscrew!
What for?
Is it outside already, this cask?
There’s one in the landlord’s toolbox, for sure.
Mephistopheles (Takes the corkscrew. To frog.)
Now, what would you like to try? 2260
What? There is a selection, too?
There’s a choice for every one of you.
Altmayer (To Frosch.)
Ah! You soon catch on: your lips are dry?
Good! When I’ve a choice, I drink Rhenish.
The Fatherland grants those best gifts to us. 2265
Mephistopheles (Boring a hole in the table-edge where frog is sitting.)
Bring me a little wax, to make the seals, as well!
Ah, that’s for the conjuring trick, I can tell.
Mephistopheles (To Brander.)
Champagne for me is fine:
Make it a truly sparkling wine!
(Mephistopheles bores the holes: one of the others makes the wax stoppers and stops the holes with them.)
We can’t always shun what’s foreign, 2270
Things from far away are often fine.
Real Germans can’t abide a Frenchman,
And yet they gladly drink his wine.
Siebel (As Mephistopheles approaches his seat.)
I must confess I do dislike the dry,
Give me a glass of the very sweetest! 2275
Mephistopheles (Boring a hole.)
I’ll pour an instant Tokay for you, yes?
Now, gentlemen, look me in the eye!
I see you’ve had the better of us there.
Now! Now! With guests so rare,
That would be far too much for me to dare. 2280
Quick! Time for you to declare!
Which wine can I serve you with?
Any at all! Don’t make us ask forever.
(Now all the holes have been stopped and sealed.)
Mephistopheles (With a strange gesture.)
Grapes, they’re the vine’s load!
Horns, they are the he-goat’s: 2285
Wine is juice: wood makes vines,
The wooden board shall give us wine.
Look deeper into nature!
Have faith, and here’s a wonder!
Now draw the stoppers, and drink up! 2290
All (Draw the stoppers, and the wine they chose flows into each glass.)
O lovely fount, that flows for us!
But careful, don’t lose a drop!
(They drink repeatedly.)
‘We’re all of us cannibals now,
We’re like five hundred sows. ’
The folk are free, and we can go, you see! 2295
I’d like to leave here now.
Watch first: their bestiality
Will make a splendid show.
(He drinks carelessly, wine pours on the ground and bursts into flame.)
Help! Fire! Hell burns bright!
Mephistopheles (Charming away the flame.)
Friendly element, be quiet! 2300
(To the drinkers.)
For this time, just a drop of purgatory.
What’s that? You wait! You’ll pay dearly!
It seems you don’t quite see us right.
Try playing that trick a second time, on us!
I think we should quietly send him packing. 2305
What, sir? You think you’re daring,
Tricking us with your hocus-pocus?
Be quiet, old wine barrel!
You broomstick! You’ll show us you’re ill bred?
Just wait, it’s rain blows, on your head! 2310
Altmayer (Draws a stopper and fire blazes in his face.)
I’m burning! Burning!
It’s magic, strike! The man’s a rascal! Kick him as you like!
(They draw knives and rush at Mephistopheles.)
Mephistopheles (With solemn gestures.)
Word and Image, ensnare!
Age, senses and air!
Be here, and there! 2315
(They look at each other, amazed.)
Where am I? What a lovely land!
Vineyards? On I seeing straight?
And, likewise, grapes to hand!
Deep in this green arbor, here,
See the vines! What grapes appear!
(He grasps Siebel by the nose: the others do the same reciprocally, and raise their knives.)
From their eyes, Error, take the iron band, 2320
And let them see how the Devil plays a joke.
(He vanishes with Faust: the revellers separate.)
frog
What that your nose?
Brander (To Siebel.)
And I’ve still got your nose in my hand!
It was a tremor, that passed through every limb!
Pass me a stool: I’m sinking in! 2325
Tell me: what happened there, my friend?
Where is he? When I catch that fellow,
He won’t leave here alive again!
I saw him myself fly out of the cellar
Riding on a barrel – and then – 2330
I feel there’s lead still in my feet.
(He turns towards the table.)
Ah! Does the wine still flow as sweet?
It was deception, cheating, lying.
Still, it seemed that I drank wine.
And what about all those grapes that hung there? 2335
Tell me, now, we shouldn’t believe in wonders!
Scene VI: The Witches ’Kitchen
(A giant cauldron stands on a low hearth, with a fire under it. Various shapes appear in the fumes from the cauldron. A She-Ape sits next to it, skimming it, watching to see it doesn’t boil over. The He -Ape, with young ones, sits nearby warming himself. The ceiling and walls are covered with the Witches’ grotesque instruments.)
These magical wild beasts repel me, too!
Are you telling me I can be renewed,
Wandering around in this mad maze,
Demanding help from some old hag: 2340
That her foul cookery will spirit away
Thirty years from my age, just like that?
It’s sad, if you know of nothing better!
The star of hope has quickly set.
Hasn’t some noble mind, or Nature, 2345
Found some wondrous potion yet?
My friend, what you say, again, is intelligent!
There’s a natural means to make you younger:
But it’s written, in a book quite different,
And in an odd chapter. 2350
I’ll know it, then.
Fine! You’ve a method here that needs
No gold, no doctor, no magician:
Take yourself off to the nearest field,
To scratch around, and hoe, and dig in,
Maintain yourself, and constrain 2355
Your senses in a narrow sphere:
Feed yourself on the purest fare,
Be a beast among beasts: think it no robbery,
To manure the fields you harvest, there:
Since that’s the best of ways, believe me, 2360
To keep your youth for eighty years!
I’m not used to it, can’t condescend,
To take a spade in hand, and bend:
That narrow life wouldn’t suit me at all.
So you must call the witch then, after all. 2365
Why is that old witch necessary!
Why can’t you, yourself, make the brew?
What a lovely occupation for me!
And build a thousand bridges, meanwhile, too.
It’s not just art and science that tell, 2370
Patience is needed in the work as well.
A calm mind’s busy years in its creation,
Only time strengthens the fermentation.
And everything about it
It’s quite a peculiar show! 2375
It’s true the Devil taught it:
The Devil can’t make it though.
(Seeing the creatures.)
See what a dainty race I hail!
This is the female: this is the male!
(To the creatures.)
The mistress isn’t home, I say? 2380
Feasting away,
Gone today,
The Chimney way!
How long will she be swarming?
As long as our paws are warming. 2385
Mephistopheles (To Faust.)
What do you think of these tender creatures?
As rude as any I ever saw!
Ah, but to me this kind of discourse
Shows the most delightful features!
(To the creatures.)
Accursed puppets, tell me true, 2390
What are you stirring in that brew?
We’re cooking up thick beggars soup.
Then there’ll be thousands in the queue.
The He-Ape (Approaches and fawns on Mephistopheles.)
O, throw the dice quick,
And let me be rich! 2395
I’ll be the winner!
It’s all arranged badly,
And if I had money,
I’d be a thinker.
Why does the ape think he’d be lucky, 2400
If he’d only have a chance to try the lottery!
(Meanwhile the young apes have been playing with a large ball, and they roll it forward.)
The world’s a ball
It lifts to fall,
Rolls without rest:
Rings like glass, 2405
And breaks as fast!
It’s hollow at best.
It’s shining here,
Here, what’s more:
‘I am living!’ 2410
A place dear son,
To keep far from!
You must die!
Its clay will soon
In pieces, lie. 2415
The He-Ape (Lifting it down.)
If you were a thief
I’d know you this minute.
(He runs to the She-Ape, and lets her look through the sieve.)
Look through the sieve! 2420
Can you see the thief,
But not name him?
Mephistopheles (Approaching the fire.)
The He-Ape and She-Ape
What a silly lot!
Not to know a pot,
Not to know a kettle! 2425
Take this brush here,
And sit on the settle.
(He invites Mephistopheles to sit down.)
Faust (Who all this time has been standing in front of a mirror, alternately approaching it and distancing himself from it.)
What do I see? What heavenly form
Is this that the magic mirror brings! 2430
Love, lend me your swiftest wings,
Then bear me to fields she adorns!
Ah, if I do not stand still here,
If I dare to venture nearer,
I see as if through a mist, no clearer – 2435
The loveliest form of woman, there!
Is it possible: can woman be so lovely?
Must I, in her outspread body, declare
The incarnation of all that’s heavenly?
Can any such this earth deliver? 2440
Naturally, if a God torments himself six days,
And says to himself, Bravo, at last, in praise,
He must have made something clever.
See, this time, what will satisfy you, forever:
I’ll know how to fish that treasure out for you, 2445
Happy, the one who finds good fortune in her,
And carries her home again, as his bride, too.
(Faust gazes endlessly in the mirror. Mephistopheles stretches himself on the settle, plays with the brush, and continues to speak.)
Here I sit like a king on his throne,
The scepter’s here, but where’s the crown?
The Creatures (Who up till now have been making all kinds of grotesque movements together, bring Mephistopheles a crown, with great outcry.)
Oh, with sweat and with blood, 2450
If you’ll be so good,
Glue on this crown, sublime!
(They are awkward with the crown, and snap it in two pieces, with which they leap about.)
Now that’s out of the way!
We see, and we say,
We hear, and we rhyme – 2455
Faust (In front of the mirror.)
Ah! I’ll go completely mad.
Mephistopheles (Pointing to the creatures.)
Now my head’s almost spinning.
If our luck’s not bad,
If there’s sense to be had,
We must be thinking! 2460
Faust (As before.)
My heart pains me with its burning! Quick,
Let’s leave this place, forego it!
Mephistopheles (Still in the same position.)
Well, at least one must admit
That’re honest poets.
(The cauldron that the She-Ape has forgotten to keep a watch on, now boils over: a great flame flares from the chimney. The Witch comes careering down through the flames, with horrendous cries.)
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! 2465
Damned creature! Accursed sow!
You left the kettle: you’ve singed me now!
Accursed creature!
(Seeing Faust and Mephistopheles.)
What have we here?
Who are you here 2470
What do you want?
Who creeps unknown?
The fire’s pain own
In all your bone!
(She plunges the skimming-ladle into the cauldron, and scatters flame towards Faust, Mephistopheles and the Creatures. The Creatures whimper.)
Mephistopheles (Reversing the brush he holds in his hand, and striking among the jars and glasses.)
One, two! One, two!
There lies the brew!
There lies the glass!
A joke at last,
In time, she-ass,
To your melody, too. 2480
(As the Witch starts back in Anger and Horror.)
Do you know me? Skeleton! Scarecrow!
Do you know your lord and master?
What stops me from striking you, so,
Crushing you, and your ape creatures?
Do you have no respect for a scarlet coat? 2485
Don’t understand a cockerel’s feather?
Have I hidden my face, you old she-goat?
Have I to name myself, as ever?
Oh sir, forgive the rude welcome!
I don’t see a single foot cloven. 2490
And your two ravens – are where?
This once, you get away with it:
It’s truly a good while, it’s not,
Since we’ve been seen together.
And Civilization makes men level, 2495
It even sticks to the Devil:
That Northern demon is no more:
Who sees horns now, or tail or claw?
As for the feet, which I can’t save,
That would harm me with the people. 2500
So like many a youth, now, I wear,
False calves and false in-steps, as well.
The Witch (Dancing.)
Sense and reason flee my brain,
I see young Satan here again!
Woman, I forbid that name! 2505
Why? What harm is caused so?
It’s written in story books, always:
Men are no better for it, though:
The Evil One’s gone: the evil stays.
Call me the Baron: that sounds good: 2510
I’m a gentleman, like the other gentlemen.
Perhaps you doubt my noble blood:
See, here’s the crest I carry, then!
(He makes an indecent gesture.)
The Witch (Laughing immoderately.)
Ha! Ha! That’s your way, as ever.
You’re the same rogue forever! 2515
Mephistopheles (To Faust.)
My friend, take note: learn that this is
The proper way to handle witches.
Now, gentlemen, say how I can be of use.
A good glass of your well-known juice!
But I must insist on the oldest: 2520
The years double what it can do.
Gladly! Here’s a flask, on the shelf:
I sometimes drink from it myself,
And it doesn’t really stink at all:
I’ll gladly give him a glass or so. 2525
If he drinks it unprepared, recall,
He won’t live a single hour, though.
He’s my good friend: it’ll go down well:
Don’t greet the best of your kitchen.
Draw the circle: speak the speech, then 2530
Offer him a glass full!
(The Witch draws a circle with fantastic gestures, and places mysterious articles inside it: meanwhile the glasses start to ring, and the cauldron to echo, and make music. Finally she brings a large book, sits the Apes in a ring, who serve as a reading desk and hold torches. She beckons Faust to approach.)
Faust (To Mephistopheles.)
Tell me, now, what’s happening?
These wild gestures, crazy things,
All of this tasteless trickery,
Is known, and hateful enough to me. 2535
A farce! You should be laughing:
Don’t be such a serious fellow!
This hocus-pocus she, the doctor’s, making,
So you’ll be aided by the juice to follow.
(He persuades Faust to enter the circle.)
The Witch (Begins to declaim from the book, with much emphasis.)
You shall see, then! 2540
From one make ten!
Let two go again,
Make three even,
You’re rich again.
Take away four! 2545
From five and six,
So says the witch,
Make seven and eight,
So it’s full weight:
And nine is one, 2550
And ten is none.
This is the Witch’s one-times-one!
I’m in the dark, the hag babbles with fever.
There’s still more she’s not gone over,
I know it well, the whole book’s like this: 2555
I’ve wasted time on it before, though,
A perfect contradiction in terms is
Ever a mystery to the wise: fools more so.
My friend, the art’s both old and new,
It’s like this in every age, with two 2560
And one, and one and two,
Scattering error instead of truth.
Men prattle, and teach it undisturbed:
Who wants to be counted with the fools?
Men always believe, when they hear words, 2565
There must be thought behind them, too.
The Witch (Continuing.)
The highest skill,
The science, still
Is hidden from the rabble!
One who never thought, 2570
To him it’s brought,
He owns it without trouble.
Why talk this nonsense to us?
My head’s near split in two.
It seems I hear the chorus, 2575
Of a hundred thousand fools.
Enough, enough, O excellent Sibyl!
Bring the drink along: and fill
The cup, quick, to the very brim:
The drink will bring my friend no harm: 2580
He’s a man of many parts, and him
Many a noble draft has charmed.
(The Witch, ceremoniously, pours the drink into a cup: as Faust puts it to his lips, a gentle flame rises.)
Down it quickly! Every time! It’ll
Likewise, warm your heart, entire.
You’re hand in hand with the Devil: 2585
Will you shrink before the fire?
(The Witch breaks the circle. Faust steps out.)
Now, quick, away! You may not rest.
Much good may that potion do you!
Mephistopheles (To the Witch.)
On Walpurgis Night you can tell me best,
What favor I can return to you. 2590
Here’s a song! Sing it sometimes, and you,
Will feel a peculiar effect: don’t ask me how.
Mephistopheles (To Faust.)
Come on, quickly, run about now:
You need to sweat, that will allow
The power to penetrate, through and through. 2595
Later, I’ll teach you to value leisure,
And soon you’ll find with deepest pleasure,
How Cupid stirs, and, now and then, leaps, too.
Let me look quickly in the glass, once more!
How lovely that woman’s form, I descried! 2600
No! No! The paragon of all women, you’re
About to see before you, personified.
With that drink in your body, well then,
All women will look to you like Helen.
Someone’s Knocking? In! Who wants to plague me again??
You have to say it three times.
That’s how I like you.
I hope we can get along;
Because chasing away the crickets,
I’m here as a noble squire,
In a red, gold-trimmed dress,
The coat of rigid silk,
The cock feather on the hat,
With a long, pointed sword,
And now advise you, briefly and well,
To invest in the same way;
So that you, untied, free,
Experience what life is.
I will be the pain in every dress
Feel the narrow earth life.
I am too old to just play,
Too young to be without a wish.
What can the world grant me??
You should be without! should be without!
That is the eternal song,
That sounds to everyone’s ears,
That, all our life,
Sing us hoarse every hour.
I wake up in the morning with horror,
I want to cry bitter tears,
To see the day in my run
Will not fulfill a wish, not one,
He himself has an inkling of every desire
Mitigates with wayward krittel,
The creation of my rain chest
With a thousand grimaces prevents.
I also have to when the night falls,
To stretch myself anxiously on the bed;
No rest is given here either,
Wild dreams will scare me.
The god who lives in my bosom,
Can deeply excite my heart;
Who towers above all my powers,
He cannot move anything outside;
And so existence is a burden for me,
Death wanted, life hated me.
And yet death is never a very welcome guest.
Blessed is he whom he shines in victory
The bloody laurels twist around the temple,
The one he did after a quick dance,
Find in a girl’s arms!
O if I were before the power of the high spirit
Delighted, lost soul!
And yet someone has a brown juice,
That night, not drunk.
Spying, it seems, is your pleasure.
I am not omniscient; but I am aware of a lot.
When out of the terrible rumblings
A sweet familiar tone pulled me,
The rest of childish feelings
Cheated with the approval of happy times,
So I curse everything the soul
Covered with curling and juggling,
And into this grief cave
Banned with glare and flattering powers!
Cursed the high opinion ahead
With which the mind embraces itself!
Curses the dazzling appearance,
That presses against our senses!
Cursed what we pretend in dreams
The fame, the name duration deceived!
Cursed what flatters us as possession,
As a woman and child, as a servant and plow!
Damn Mammon if with treasures
He encourages us to act boldly,
If he is too idle
The cushions put us right!
Curse the balsamic juice of the grapes!
Curse of that highest love blessing!
Curse Hope! Curse of faith,
And curse of all patience!
Sore! sore!
You destroyed it
The beautiful world,
With a powerful fist;
It falls, it falls apart!
A demigod smashed them!
We carry
The rubble into nothing,
And complain
About the lost beauty.
mighty
The Earth Sons,
Superb
Build it again,
Build it up in your bosom!
New resume
begin,
With a bright sense,
And new songs
Sound on it!
These are the little ones
From mine.
Hear how to lust and deeds
Clever they guess!
All over the world,
Out of loneliness
Where senses and juices stall,
Do they want to lure you?.
Stop playing with your grief,
Who eats you like a vulture;
The worst company makes you feel,
That you are human with human.
But that’s not what it’s meant
Push you under the pack.
I am not one of the big ones;
But you want to be united with me,
Take your steps through life,
So I want to be comfortable,
To be yours on the spot.
I am your companion,
And I do you good,
I am your servant, I am your servant!
And what should I do for you??
You have a long time to do this.
No no! the devil is a selfish
And don’t do it lightly for God’s sake,
What is useful to another.
Make the condition clear;
Such a servant brings danger into the house.
I want to connect to your service here,
Do not rest on your wave and do not rest;
If we find ourselves over there,
So you should do the same to me.
I don’t care much over there;
Do you smash this world first?,
The other may arise thereafter.
My joys flow from this earth,
And this sun shines on my sufferings;
Can I divorce them first?,
Then what wants and can do may happen.
I don’t want to hear any more about that,
Whether you still hate and love in the future,
And whether it is also in those spheres
An up or down there.
In this sense you can dare.
Connect; you should, these days,
To see my arts with joy,
I give you what no one has seen.
What do you want to give poor devil?
Was a man’s spirit, in his lofty pursuit,
Ever grasped by your kind?
But you have food that is not filling
You red gold, that without rest,
Mercury right away, melting in your hand,
A game where you never win,
A girl on my chest
With eyes already connects to the neighbor,
The glorious love of god,
That, like a meteor, disappears?
Show me the fruit that rots before you break it,
And trees that green themselves every day!
I am not frightened by such an assignment,
I can serve with such treasures.
Yes, good friend, the time is coming,
Where we can feast on something good in peace.
I’ll calm down ever lie down on a lazy bed,
So be it right around me!
Can you ever lie to me flattering,
That I like myself,
Can you cheat me with pleasure?-
That was the last day for me!
I offer the bet!
And blow after blow!
At the moment I will say:
Linger! you are so pretty!
Then you may tie me up,
Then I would like to perish!
Then the death knell may ring,
Then you are free of your service,
The watch may be standing, the hand may be falling,
It was time for me!
Think about it, we will not forget it.
You have a full right to do this;
I have not measured myself deliberately.
As I insist, I am a servant,
Whether yours, what do I ask, or whose.
I’m going to be at the doctor’s feast today,
Do my duty as a servant.
Only one thing – for the sake of life or death
I ask for a few lines.
You also ask Pedant for something written?
Haven’t you known a man, not a man’s word?
Isn’t it enough that my spoken word
Should switch with my days forever?
Do not rest the world away in all currents,
And I should keep a promise?
But this delusion is in our hearts,
Who would like to get rid of it??
Delighted who carries fidelity in the bosom,
No victim will ever regret it!
A parchment alone, described and stamped,
Is a ghost everyone is afraid of.
The word dies in the pen,
The reign is led by wax and leather.
What do you want evil spirit from me?
Ore, marble, parchment, paper?
Should I write with a stylus, chisel, pen??
I give you every choice.
How do you like your speech?
Just exaggerate so hot?
Every leaf is good.
You sign yourself with a droplet of blood.
If this is completely satisfactory to you,
So it may stay with the grimace.
Blood is a very special juice.
No fear I’m breaking this alliance!
The striving of all my strength
Is exactly what I promise.
I bloated too much,
I only belong in your rank.
The great spirit scorned me,
Nature closes in front of me
The thread of thought is torn
Knowledge disgusts me for a long time.
Let go in the depths of sensuality
Quench our fervent passions!
In impenetrable magical covers
Be ready for every miracle!
Let’s plunge into the noise of time,
In the rolling of the event!
Then there is pain and pleasure,
Success and annoyance
Switch with each other as it can;
The man is only restless.
You have no measure and goal.
You like to snack anywhere,
To catch something while fleeing,
Get well what will replace you.
Just grab me and don’t be stupid!
You heard that there is no question of Freud.
I am dedicated to frenzy, the most painful pleasure,
Love-hate, refreshing annoyance.
My breast healed from the thirst for knowledge,
No pain should close in the future,
And what is all mankind,
I want to enjoy in my inner self,
Grasp the highest and lowest with my mind,
Your well-being hurts on my breasts,
And so expand my own self to their self,
And, like them, I end up failing.
Oh believe me, that some thousand years
Chew on this hard food
That from the cradle to the grave
No one digested the old sourdough!
Believe in us, this whole
Made for one god only!
It is found in an eternal shine
He has brought us into darkness,
And you are only good day and night.
I want alone!
You can hear that!
But only one thing worries me:
Time is short, art is long.
I think you have been instructed.
Associate yourself with a poet,
Let the Lord roam,
And all noble qualities
Heap on your apex of honor,
The lion’s courage,
The stag’s speed,
The Italian’s fiery blood,
Northern Durability.
Let him find the secret for you,
To combine generosity and malice,
And you, with warm youth instincts,
Fall in love with a tarp.
Would like to know such a gentleman himself,
Would call him Mr. Microcosm.
What am I if it is not possible,
To win the crown of humanity,
After which all the senses penetrate?
You are in the end – what you are.
Put on wigs of millions of curls,
Put your foot on high socks,
You always stay what you are.
I feel in vain I have all the treasures
The spirit of man brought up to me,
And if I sit down in the end,
There is no new power inside;
I am not a hair taller,
I’m not closer to the infinite.
My good sir, you see the things,
How you see things;
We have to do it better,
Before joy flees from life.
What executioner! hands and feet, of course
And head and H [internal] are yours;
But everything I enjoy fresh,
So that’s less mine?
If I can pay six stallions,
Are your powers not mine?
I run and am a right man,
As if I had twenty-four legs.
So fresh! Let everything be sensible,
And straight into the world!
I tell you: a guy who speculates,
It’s like an animal on a dry heath
Guided by an evil spirit in a circle,
And there is beautiful green pasture all around.
How do we start?
We are just leaving.
What is this torture place?
What does that mean to live,
Himself and the boys?
You leave that to the neighbor neighbor Wanst!
What do you want to plague the straw??
The best you can know,
You can’t tell the boys.
I’ll hear one in the hall soon!
I am unable to see him.
The poor boy waits a long time,
He mustn’t go comforted.
Come on, give me your skirt and hat;
The mask must look delicious to me.
(He changes his clothes.)
Now leave it to my jokes!
I only need a quarter of an hour;
Meanwhile, get ready for a nice trip!
MEPHISTOPHELES (in Faust’s long dress):
Despise only reason and science,
The highest strength of man,
Leave only in glare and magic works
Reinforce you from the lying spirit,
So I absolutely have you-
Fate has given him a spirit,
Who always pushes forward,
And its hasty pursuit
The earth skips joys.
I drag it through the wild life,
Through flat insignificance,
He should fidget, stare, stick to me,
And its insatiability
Let food and drink float before greedy lips;
He will seek refreshment for free,
And if he hadn’t turned himself over to the devil,
He should have perished!
(A STUDENT appears.)
I am only here for a short time,
And come with devotion,
To speak and know a man,
That everyone calls me with awe.
I am very pleased with your courtesy!
You see a man like others.
Have you already changed your mind??
I ask you to take care of me!
I come with all good courage,
Passing money and fresh blood;
My mother hardly wanted to remove me;
Would like to learn something right out here.
You are just right there.
Sincerely, would like to leave again:
Within these walls, these halls
I don’t want to like it at all.
It is a restricted space,
You see nothing green, no tree,
And in the halls, on the benches, I lose hearing, seeing and thinking.
It only depends on habit.
So a child takes breast from the mother
Not willing at the beginning,
But soon it feeds on lust.
This is how you get breasts of wisdom
Desire more every day.
I will be happy to hang on her neck;
But just tell me how can I get there?
Explain yourself before you continue,
Which faculty you choose?
I wish to be taught right,
And would like something on earth
And is in heaven, grasp,
Science and nature.
You are on the right track;
But you don’t have to be scattered.
I am there with soul and body;
But of course I would like it
A little freedom and pastime
On nice summer holidays.
Used the time, it goes so quickly,
But order teaches you to save time.
My dear friend, I advise you therefore
First Collegium Logicum.
The mind will be trained for you,
Constricted in Spanish boots,
That he was more careful from now on
Sneak up the train of thought,
And not about the crisscross,
Wispy lights back and forth.
Then you will be taught some days,
That what else you have in one fell swoop
Driven, like eating and drinking freely,
One! Two! Three! for this is necessary.
It is with the thought factory
Like a Weber masterpiece,
Where a kick moves a thousand threads,
Shoot the little ship across,
The threads flow unseen,
One stroke of a thousand connections.
The philosopher comes in
And prove yourself, it must be like this:
The first would be like this, the second like that,
And so the third and fourth like this;
And if it weren’t for the first and second,
The third and fourth would never be.
The students praise it everywhere,
But didn’t become weavers.
Who wants to recognize and describe what is alive?,
First try to drive the mind out,
Then he has the parts in his hand,
Missing, unfortunately! only the mental bond.
Encheiresin naturae calls it chemistry,
Mock themselves and don’t know how.
Can’t quite understand you.
That will be better soon,
If you learn to reduce everything
And classify properly.
It makes me so stupid,
When went, a mill wheel in my head.
Afterwards, before all other things,
Do you have to get to metaphysics!
There you see that you take a profound understanding,
What does not fit in the human brain;
For what works and does not work,
A magnificent word is at your service.
But for now half a year
Be aware of the best order.
You have five hours every day;
Be inside with the chime!
Have you prepared well beforehand,
Paragraphos probably rehearsed,
So that you can see better afterwards,
That he says nothing but what is in the book;
But you’re hard at work writing,
As dictated to you by the Holy Spirit!
You shouldn’t tell me that twice!
I think how much it is useful
Because what you have in black and white,
Can be safely carried home.
But I choose a faculty!
I can’t get comfortable with legal scholarship.
I can’t resent you so much,
I know what the teaching is about.
Law and rights are inherited
Like an eternal illness;
They drag themselves from gender to gender,
And move gently from place to place.
Reason becomes nonsense, benefit plague;
Woe to you that you’re a grandson!
The right that was born with us,
Of that is, unfortunately! never the question.
My loathing is increased by you.
O happy the one you teach!
I almost want to study theology now.
I did not wish to mislead you.
As for this science,
It is so difficult to avoid the wrong way,
There is so much hidden poison in her,
And it can hardly be distinguished from the medicine egg.
It’s best here if you only hear one,
And swear by the Master’s words.
On the whole, stick to words!
Then you go through the safe gate
To the Temple of Certainty.
But a concept must be with the word.
All right! You just don’t have to be too anxious
Because exactly where terms are missing,
A word appears at the right time.
You can argue with words,
Prepare a system with words,
Words are excellent to believe,
No iota can be stolen from a word.
Forgive me, I am stopping you with many questions,
I still have to make an effort for you.
Do you want me from medicine
Don’t say a strong word?
Three years is a short time,
And, god! the field is too wide.
If you only have a pointer,
It can be felt rather earlier.
MEPHISTOPHELES (for yourself):
I’m fed up with the dry clay now,
Must play the devil again.
The spirit of medicine is easy to grasp;
You study the big and small world,
To let it go in the end,
As God pleases.
In vain that you roam scientifically all around,
Everyone only learns what they can learn;
But who seizes the moment,
That is the right man.
You are still pretty well built,
You won’t be lacking in boldness either,
And if you only trust yourself,
Trust the other souls.
Women especially learn to lead;
It is always aching and aching
So a thousand times
Cure from one point,
And if you do halfway honorable,
Then you have them all under control.
A title must first make it confidential,
That your art surpasses many arts;
To welcome you, you grope for all things,
Around which another strokes for many years,
Understands how to squeeze the pus,
And grasp them with fiery cunning looks,
Clearly around the slim waist,
To see how tightly laced it is.
That looks better! You can see where and how.
Gray, dear friend, is all theory,
And green tree of life golden.
I swear to you, it’s like a dream.
May I complain to you some other time,
To hear the bottom of your wisdom?
What I can do should be happy.
I can’t go again,
I still have to hand over my studbook to you,
Treat your favor to me this sign!
(He writes and there is.)
Eritis sicut Deus, scientes bonum et malum.
(Do it respectfully and recommend it.)
Just follow the old saying and my mum, the snake,
You will certainly fear your likeness to God!
(Faust enters.)
Where should I go now??
Wherever you like it.
We see the small, then the big world.
With what joy, with what benefit
Are you going to sleep through the cursum!
Alone with my long beard
I miss the easy way of life.
I will not succeed in the attempt;
I never knew how to send myself into the world.
In front of others I feel so small; I will always be embarrassed.
My good friend, that will do everything;
As soon as you trust yourself, as soon as you know how to live.
How do we get out of the house??
Where do you have horses, servants and carriages?
We just spread out the coat,
It should carry us through the air.
You take this bold step
Just don’t have a big bundle with you.
A little bit of fire air that I will prepare,
Lift us agile from this earth.
And if we are light, it goes up quickly;
I congratulate you on the new resume!
Auerbach’s cellar in Leipzig
Colliery of funny fellows.
Nobody wants to drink? no one laugh?
I want to make you faces!
You are like wet straw today,
And otherwise burns brilliantly.
That’s up to you; you don’t bring anything,
Not a stupidity, not a mess.
FROG (pours a glass of wine over his head):
You have both!
You want it, you should be!
Out the door, he divides!
Runda sings, drinks and screams with her chest open!
On! Holla! Ho!
Woe to me, I’m lost!
Cotton forth! the guy blows my ears.
When the vault echoes,
One feels the basic power of the bass even more.
Right, out with the one who resents something!
A! tara lara there!
The throats are tuned.
The dear Holy Roman Empire,
How does it stick together??
A nasty song! Pooh! a political song
A sorry song! Thank God every morning,
That you don’t need to take care of the Roman Empire!
At least I think it’s ample profit,
That I’m not emperor or chancellor.
But we don’t have to lack a head either;
We want to elect a pope.
You know what a quality
The rash gives, the man raises.
Swing yourself up, Ms. Nachtigall,
Greet me my love ten thousand times.
No greeting to the darling! I don’t want to hear anything about it!
Greetings and kisses to the darling! you won’t stop me!
Bolt on! in silent Night.
Bolt on! the dearest watches.
Bolt! early in the morning.
Yes, sing, just sing and praise and praise them!
I want to laugh in my time.
She led me, she’ll do it for you too.
For the dearest, a goblin was bestowed on her!
He may be chatting with her on a way of the cross;
An old goat when he returns from Blocksberg,
May complain good night while galloping!
A good guy of real flesh and blood
It’s far too good for the wench.
I don’t want to know about any greetings,
When she smashed the windows
BRANDER (hitting the table):
Pay attention! pay attention! Obey me!
Lord, confess I know how to live
People in love sit here,
And this must, after standing fee,
For the good night I give the best.
Beware! A song from the latest cut!
And sings the rhyme vigorously!
It was a rat in the basement nest,
Only lived on fat and butter,
Had kneaded a knack,
As like Doctor Luther.
The cook had given her poison;
Then it became so narrow in the world,
As if she had love in her body.
As if she had love in her body.
She spun around, she spun out,
And drank from all puddles,
Gnawed, scratched, the whole house,
Nothing wanted to help her rage;
She even does some jumps of fear,
The poor animal soon had enough,
As if it had love in its body.
As if it had love in its body.
It came from fear in the bright day
Run to the kitchen,
Fell to the stove and twitched, and lay,
And panting miserably.
Then the poisoner laughed:
Ha! she whistles on the last hole,
As if she had love in her body.
As if she had love in her body.
How happy the flat boys are!
It is a real art to me,
To spread poison to the poor rats!
You are very much in your favor?
The pain belly with the bald plate!
Misfortune makes him tame and mild;
He sees in the swollen rat
His very natural counterpart
Enter Faust and Mephistopheles.
First of all, I have to get you
Bring in fun company,
So that you can see how easy it is to live.
Every day is a festival for the people here.
With little joke and a lot of comfort
Everyone turns in tight circle dance,
Like young cats with their tails.
If they don’t complain of a headache,
As long as the landlord only borrows,
Are you happy and carefree?.
They just come from the trip,
You can see it in her strange way;
You are not here for an hour.
Truly, you are right! I praise my Leipzig!
It is a small Paris, and educates its people.
What are you looking at the strangers for??
Just let me go! With a full glass
I pull like a child’s tooth,
The worms out of the lads easily.
You seem to me from a noble house,
You look proud and dissatisfied.
Barkers are sure, I bet!
Be careful, I’ll screw it on!
MEPHISTOPHELES (to Faust):
The people never feel the devil,
And if he had her by the collar.
Greetings to us, gentlemen!
Many thanks for the counter greeting.
(Quietly, looking sideways at Mephistopheles.)
What’s the guy limping on one foot?
Is it allowed to sit with you too??
Instead of a good drink that you can’t have
Let society replace us.
You seem a very spoiled man.
You probably left Rippach late?
Did you only dine with Mr. Hans at night?
Today we passed him by!
The last time we spoke to him.
He knows a lot about his cousins,
Greetings to everyone.
(He leans against frog.)
There you have it! he understands!
A smart patron!
Well, wait, I’ll get him!
If I wasn’t wrong, we heard
Practice voices chorus sing?
Certainly, singing must be excellent here
Reverberate from this curvature!
Are you a virtuoso??
Oh no! the strength is weak, the desire alone is great.
Give us a song!
If you want, the crowd.
Only a brand new piece!
We will only come back from Spain,
The beautiful land of wine and song.
once upon a time there was a king,
He had a big flea-
Hark! Happy! Did you understand that??
A flea is a clean guest to me.
once upon a time there was a king
He had a big flea,
Loves him, not a little,
As like his own son.
Then he called his tailor,
The tailor came up:
There, take the Junker’s clothes
And measure pants for him!
Just don’t forget to instruct the tailor,
That he measures me very accurately,
And that as dear his head is to him,
Do not wrinkle the pants!
In Sammet and in silk
He was done now
Had ribbons on the dress,
Also had a cross on it
And immediately became a minister,
And had a big star.
Then his siblings became
Great gentlemen at court too.
And gentlemen and women at court,
They were very troubled,
The queen and the maid
Stung and gnawed,
And were not allowed to bend them,
And away they don’t itch.
We kink and suffocate
But immediately if someone stings.
We kink and suffocate
But immediately if someone stings.
Bravo! Bravo! That was nice!
This is how it should be for every flea!
Point your fingers and grasp them finely!
Long live freedom! Long live the wine!
I like to drink a glass to honor freedom,
If only your wines were a little better.
We don’t like to hear that again!
I’m just afraid the landlord is complaining;
Otherwise I would give these dear guests
The best from our basement.
Just come here! I take it on myself.
If you make a good glass, we want to praise you.
Just don’t give samples that are too small
Because if I should judge,
I ask the mouth quite full.
You are from the Rhine, I feel.
Get a drill!
What should happen to that?
You don’t have the barrels at the door?
The host has a basket of tools in the back.
MEPHISTOPHELES (takes the drill. To frog):
Now say what you want to taste?
What do you mean You have so many things?
I leave it up to everyone.
ALTMAYER (to frog):
Aha! you’re already starting to lick your lips.
Good! if I have to choose, I want Rheinwein.
The fatherland bestows the very best gifts.
MEPHISTOPHELES (by drilling a hole in the edge of the table where Frog sits):
Gives a little wax to make the stoppers level!
Oh, these are handheld items.
MEPHISTOPHELES (to Brander):
I want champagne wine
And it should be quite moussey!
(Mephistopheles drills; however, one has made the wax plugs and clogged them.)
You can’t always avoid the foreign
The good is often so far from us.
A real German man doesn’t like French people,
But he likes to drink their wines.
SIEBEL (as Mephistopheles approaches his place):
I have to confess, I don’t like the piss,
Give me a glass of the real sweet!
Tokayers should flow to you immediately.
No, gentlemen, look me in the face!
I see it, you only have us for the best.
Egg! Egg! With such noble guests
Would have been a bit daring.
Geschwind! Just said straight out!
Which wine can I serve with??
With everybody! Just not asked for long.
(After the holes are all drilled and plugged
are.)
MEPHISTOPHELES (with strange gestures):
The vine bears grapes!
Horns the billy goat;
The wine is juicy, the vines are wood,
The wooden table can also give wine.
A deep look into nature!
Here is a miracle, just believe!
Now pull the stopper and enjoy!
ALL (by pulling the stoppers and pouring the requested wine into the glass):
O beautiful fountain that flows to us!
Just be careful not to spill anything on me!
(They drink repeatedly.)
We feel very cannibalic,
As five hundred sows!
The people are free, see how they are doing!
I would like to leave now.
Just be careful, the bestiality
Will reveal itself wonderfully.
(drinks carelessly, the wine flows to the earth and becomes a flame):
Help! Fire! help! Hell burns!
MEPHISTOPHELES (discussing the flame):
Be calm, kind element!
(To the fellows.)
For this time it was just a drop of purgatory.
What is that supposed to be? Wait! You pay dearly!
It seems that you don’t know us.
Let us stay that for the second time!
I think we were told to go very gently sideways.
What, sir? He wants to be under,
And drive his hocus-pocus here?
Still, old wine barrel!
Broomstick! You want to meet us roughly?
Just wait, it should rain blows!
ALTMAYER (pulls a plug out of the table, fire leaps towards it):
I burn! I burn!
Strikes! the guy is bird free!
(They pull the knives and go to Mephistopheles.)
MEPHISTOPHELES (with serious gesture):
Wrong form and word
Change meaning and place!
Be here and there!
(They stand in astonishment and look at each other.)
Where am I? What a beautiful country!
Vineyards! I see it right?
And grapes at hand!
Here under this green arbor,
See what a stick! See what grape!
(He takes sevens by the nose. The others do it mutually and lift the knives.)
MEPHISTOPHELES (as above):
Error, let go of the eyes!
And remember how the devil is playing.
(He disappears with his fist, the journeyman drives
apart.
FROG:
That was your nose?
BRANDER (to Siebel):
And I have yours in my hand!
It was a blow that went through every limb!
Get a chair, I sink!
No, just tell me what happened?
Where’s the guy When I feel it,
It shouldn’t go to me alive!
I have him out to the basement door myself-
See riding on a barrel–
It’s heavy in my feet.
(Turning to the table.)
My! Should the wine still flow?
Everything was deceit, lie and appearance.
I thought I was drinking wine.
But how about the grapes?
Now tell me one thing, you shouldn’t believe a miracle!
(A large kettle stands on a low stove above the fire. Various shapes appear in the steam rising from it. A monkey sits by the kettle and foams it and ensures that it does not overflow Boy sits next to him and warms himself, walls and ceiling are made with the strangest witchcraft
decorated. )
I resist the great magical being!
You promise me to recover
In this mess of frenzy?
I ask advice from an old woman?
And creates the Sudel cookery
Thirty years off my body?
Woe to me if you don’t know anything better!
Hope is already gone.
Has nature and has a noble spirit
Not found any balm?
My friend, now you speak wisely again!
There is also a natural way to rejuvenate you;
It is alone in another book,
And is a whimsical chapter.
I want to know.
Good! A means without money
And to have a doctor and sorcery: go straight to the field,
Start chopping and digging
Preserve yourself and your mind
In a very limited circle,
Eat with unmixed food,
Live with cattle as cattle, and take care not to rob them,
To fertilize the field you harvest;
That is the best way, believe,
To rejuvenate you to eighty years!
I’m not used to it, I can’t be comfortable,
To take the spade in hand.
The tight life is not for me.
So the witch has to go.
Why then just the old woman!
Can’t you brew the potion yourself??
That would be a nice pastime!
Meanwhile, I probably wanted to build a thousand bridges.
Not art and science alone,
Patience wants to be with the work.
A quiet mind is busy for years,
Time only makes the fine fermentation vigorous.
And everything that goes with it,
They are wonderful things!
The devil taught it;
The devil alone cannot do it.
(Seeing the animals.)
See what a delicate gender!
That is the maid! that is the servant!
It seems the woman is not at home?
At the feast,
Out of the house
To the chimney!
How long will she be enthusiastic about??
As long as we warm our paws.
Mephistopheles. (to Faust):
How do you find the delicate animals?
So bad when I only saw someone!
No, a discourse like this one
Is just the one that I love to lead!
So tell me, cursed dolls,
What are you whirling around in the porridge?
We cook wide beggar soups.
You have a large audience.
THE CAT (approaches and flatters Mephistopheles):
O just roll the dice,
And make me rich,
And let me win!
It’s badly ordered,
And if I were money,
So I would be crazy.
How lucky the monkey would be,
Could he just win the lottery?!
(Meanwhile, the young guinea pigs have played with a large ball and are rolling it out.)
That is the world;
It rises and falls
And rolls constantly;
It sounds like glass-
How soon that breaks!
It is hollow inside.
Here she shines very much,
And here’s more:
"`I am alive!"’
My dear son,
Stay away from it!
You must die!
It is made of clay,
There are shards.
What is the strainer?
THE CAT (gets it down):
Would you be a thief,
I want to recognize you right away.
(He runs to the queen and lets her see through.)
Look through the sieve!
Do you recognize the thief,
And you can’t call him?
MEPHISTOPHELES (approaching the fire):
And this pot?
CAT AND CAT:
The silly drip!
He doesn’t know the pot,
He doesn’t know the kettle!
Take the frond here,
And sit down in an armchair!
(He urges Mephistopheles to sit.)
FAUST (who stood in front of a mirror this time, soon approached him,
soon moved away from him):
What do i see What a heavenly picture
Shows up in this magic mirror!
O love, lend me the fastest of your wings,
And lead me into their field!
If I don’t stay here,
If I dare to go close,
I can only see them as in the fog!-
The most beautiful picture of a woman!
If it is possible, the woman is so beautiful?
I have to on this stretched out body
See the epitome of all heaven?
There is such a thing on earth?
Of course, if a god has only been in trouble for six days,
And even Bravo says in the end,
There must be something clever.
For this time always see your fill;
I know how to track you down such a darling,
And blessed is he who has the good fortune,
To lead her home as a groom!
(Faust keeps looking in the mirror. Mephistopheles, stretching in the armchair and playing with the frond, continues to speak.)
Here I sit like the king on the throne,
I hold the scepter here, only the crown is missing.
THE ANIMALS (which so far have mixed up all sorts of whimsical movements,
bring a crown with great shouting to Mephistopheles):
Oh, be so good,
With sweat and with blood
Glue the crown!
(They handle the crown awkwardly and break it into two pieces with which they jump around.)
Now it has happened!
We talk and see,
We hear and rhyme-
FAUST (against the mirror):
Woe is me! I’m going crazy.
MEPHISTOPHELES (pointing to the animals):
Now my head starts to sway.
And if we succeed,
And if it sends itself out,
So there are thoughts!
My breasts start to burn!
Let’s just move away quickly!
MEPHISTOPHELES (in the above position):
Well, at least you have to confess,
That they are sincere poets.
(The cauldron, which the cat has so far disregarded, begins to overflow, a large flame is created which strikes the chimney. The witch comes with the flame
horrific shouting.)
Ow! Ow! Ow! Au!
Damn beast! cursed sow!
Miss the cauldron, scorch the woman!
Cursed animal!
(Seeing Faust and Mephistopheles.)
What is this?
Who are you here?
What do you want there?
Who crept in?
The torment
Into your bones!
(She drives the slotted spoon into the cauldron and sprays flames at Faust, Mephistopheles and the animals. The animals whimper.)
MEPHISTOPHELES (who turns the frond he is holding in his hand and slams it under the glasses and pots):
In two! in half!
There is the porridge!
There is the glass!
It’s just a joke,
The beat, you carrion,
To your tune.
(By the witch full of fury and horror
withdraws.)
Do you recognize me? Skeletons! Terrible you!
Do you recognize your Lord and Master?
What stops me, I strike,
Smash yourself and your cat spirits!
Do you no longer have any respect for the red doublet??
Can’t you see the cock feather??
I hid this face?
Should I call myself?
O Lord, forgive the raw greeting!
I don’t see a horse’s foot.
Where are your two ravens??
For this time you’ll get away with it;
Because of course it’s been a while,
That we didn’t see each other.
The culture that licks the world,
Has extended to the devil;
The Nordic phantom can no longer be seen;
Where do you see horns, tails and claws?
And as for the foot, which I cannot do without,
It would harm me in people;
That’s why I use myself like some young men,
Wrong calves for many years.
THE WITCH (dancing):
I almost lose my sense and understanding,
I see the Junker Satan here again!
I forbid the name, woman!
Why? What did he do to you??
It has long been written in the fable book;
People are no better off alone,
They are rid of the bad guys, the bad guys have stayed.
You call me Herr Baron, that’s a good thing;
I am a cavalier, like other cavaliers.
You do not doubt my noble blood;
Look, this is the coat of arms that I carry!
(He makes an indecent gesture.)
THE WITCH (laughs excessively):
Ha! Ha! That is your way!
You are a prankster as you always have been!
MEPHISTOPHELES (to Faust):
My friend, learn to understand that!
This is the way to deal with witches.
Now say, gentlemen, what you can do.
A good glass of the well-known juice!
But I have to ask you for the oldest;
The years double his strength.
I would love to! I have a bottle here,
From which I sometimes snack myself,
Which no longer stinks in the least;
I would like to give you a glass.
But if this man drinks it unprepared
You know, he can’t live like this for an hour.
It is a good friend to thrive on;
I would like to treat him to the best of your kitchen.
Draw your circle, say your sayings,
And give him a cup full!
(The witch, with strange gestures, draws a circle and puts wonderful things in it. Meanwhile, the glasses start to sound, the kettles sound, and make music. Finally, she brings a big one
Book, put the vervet monkeys in a circle, who will serve them as a desk and hold the torch. She beckons to join her.)
FAUST (to Mephistopheles):
No, tell me what is that supposed to be?
The great stuff, the raging gestures,
The tastiest scam,
Are known to me, hated enough.
Egg antics! This is only for laughing;
Just don’t be such a strict man!
As a doctor, she has to make a hocus-pocus,
So that the juice can thrive you.
(He forces fists to step into the circle.)
THE WITCH (with great emphasis begins to declaim from the book):
You have to understand!
Make ten out of one,
And let two go,
And three do the same,
So you are rich.
Lose the four!
From five and six,
So says the hex,
Do seven and eight,
Here’s how:
And nine is one,
And ten is none.
This is the witch multiplication table!
I think the old woman is talking in a fever.
This is far from over,
I know it well, that’s how the whole book sounds;
I lost some time with it,
Because a complete contradiction
Remains as mysterious for the clever as for the fool.
My friend, art is old and new.
It was the type at all times,
By three and one, and one and three
Spreading error instead of spreading truth.
So you talk and teach undisturbed;
Who wants to deal with the fools?
Usually people believe when they only hear words,
There has to be something to think about.
THE WITCH (continues):
The high power
The science,
Hidden to the whole world!
And who doesn’t think,
It is given to them,
He has it without worries.
What nonsense does she tell us??
My head will break soon.
I think I hear a whole choir
Speak of a hundred thousand fools.
Enough, enough, o excellent Sibyl!
Give up your potion and fill up
The bowl quickly up to the edge;
Because this drink won’t hurt my friend:
He is a man of many degrees,
Some good sips done.
(The witch, with many ceremonies, pours the potion into a bowl, as she brings fist to her mouth, there is a slight flame.)
Just fresh down! Always closed!
It will delight your heart in a moment.
You and the devil are you,
And you want to shy away from the flame?
(The witch loosens the circle. Faust steps out.)
Now fresh out! You cannot rest.
May you enjoy the sip!
MEPHISTOPHELES (to the witch):
And can I do you a favor?,
You can only tell me that in Walpurgis.
Here is a song! if you sing it sometimes,
So you will feel a special effect.
MEPHISTOPHELES (to Faust):
Just come quickly and let yourself be led;
You have to perspire,
So that the force penetrates through inside and outside.
Afterwards I will teach you the noble idleness,
And soon you will feel deeply overwhelmed,
How Cupid moves and jumps back and forth.
Just let me look in the mirror quickly!
The image of women was too beautiful!
No! No! You are supposed to be the pattern of all women
Now see you in person soon.
You see, with this potion in your body,
Soon Helenen in every woman.
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