my godfathers were these, Peter Pickleherring, and Martin Martlemas-beef;1 O, but my godmother, she was a jolly gentlewoman, and well beloved in every good town. and city; her name was Mistress Margery March-beer.2 Now, Faustus, thou hast heard all my progeny, wilt thou bid me to supper? 166 Faust. No, I'll see thee hanged: thou wilt eat up all my victuals. Glut. Then the Devil choke thee! Faust. Choke thyself, glutton! Who art thou—the sixth ? 171 Sloth. I am Sloth. I was begotten on a sunny bank, where I have lain ever since; and you have done me great injury to bring me from thence: let me be carried thither again by Gluttony and Lechery. I'll not speak another word for a king's ransom. Faust. What are you, Mistress Minx, the seventh and last? Lech. Who, I, sir? I am one that loves an inch of raw mutton better than an ell of fried stockfish; and the first letter of my name begins with L.3 181 1 "Martlemas was the customary time for hanging up provisions to dry, which had been salted for winter provision; as our ancestors lived chiefly upon salted meat in the spring, the winter-fed cattle not being fit for use. "-Nares. The Feast of St. Martin falls on November 11th. 2 The March brewing was much esteemed. In Shirley's Captain Underwit a fencing-master's allowance is put at "twenty pipes of Bermudas [i.e. twenty pipefuls of tobacco] a day, six flagons of March beer, a quart of sack in a week,-for he scorns meat." (See my Old Plays, ii. 323.) 3 All the copies read "Lechery." The change was proposed by Collier. [Luc.] Away to Hell, to Hell! dost thou like this? Faust. O, this feeds my soul! Now, Faustus, how [Exeunt the Sins. Luc. Tut, Faustus, in Hell is all manner of delight. How happy were I then! Luc. Thou shalt; I will send for thee at midnight. In meantime take this book; peruse it throughly, And thou shalt turn thyself into what shape thou wilt. 190 Faust. Great thanks, mighty Lucifer! This will I keep as chary as my life. Luc. Farewell, Faustus, and think on the Devil. Faust. Farewell, great Lucifer ! [Exeunt LUCIFER and BELZEBUB. Come, Mephistophilis. Enter CHORus. Chorus. Learned Faustus, To know the secrets of Astronomy, Graven in the book of Jove's high firmament, 1 Ed. 1616 reads: "Luc. Away to Hell, away! On, piper! [Exeunt the Sins. Faust. O, how this sight doth delight my soul ! "Luc. But, Faustus, in hell," &c. 2 I should like to omit "thyself" for the metre's sake. 3 In ed. 1616 their follows a clownish scene between Robin and Dick. I have printed it after the play in the Appendix. He now is gone to prove Cosmography, 10 [Exit. 1 In ed. 1616 the speech of the Chorus is expanded as follows :— Chor. Learned Faustus, To find the secrets of Astronomy Graven in the book of Jove's high firmament, [Exit. The additional lines seem worthy of Marlowe, and add considerably to the picturesqueness of the original.-In Henslowe's inventory of the property of the Admiral's men (Diary, p. 273) mention is made of " "I dragon in Fostes." Perhaps (as Wagner suggests) Faustus alighted from his dragon-car at the beginning of the next scene. SCENE VII. Enter FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHILIS. Faust. Having now, my good Mephistophilis, Whose banks are set with groves of fruitful vines; Whose buildings fair and gorgeous to the eye, The streets straight forth, and paved with finest brick, Quarter the town in four equivalents: 3 There saw we learnèd Maro's golden tomb, The way he cut, an English mile in length, Thorough a rock of stone in one night's space ;4 1 The scene is laid in the Pope's privy-chamber. 2 Treves. Ed. 1604 "equivalence." 10 4 Dyce quotes from Petrarch's Itinerarium Syriacum :—“Non longe a Puteolis Falernus collis attollitur, famoso palmite nobilis. Inter Falernum et mare mons est saxeus hominum manibus confossus quod vulgus insulsum a Virgilio magicis cantaminibus factum putant." 5 So ed. 1616.-Ed. 1604 "in midst of which." (From the prose History of Dr. Faustus, Dyce shows that the "sumptuous temple" is St. Mark's at Venice.) That threats the stars with her aspiring top.1 Conducted me within the walls of Rome? 20 Meph.2 Faustus, I have; and because we will not be unprovided, I have taken up his Holiness' privy-chamber for our use. Faust. I hope his Holiness will bid us welcome. 3 Meph. Tut, 'tis no matter, man, we'll be bold with his good cheer, And now, my Faustus, that thou may'st perceive 6 Erected is a castle passing strong, 1 In ed. 1616 these two lines are added: "Whose frame is paved with sundry coloured stones, 2 A garbled version of what Marlowe wrote. Ed. 1616 gives :- 3 Ed. 1616,-" All's one, for we'll be bold with his venison." 30 4 This line and the next, necessary for the sense, first occur in ed. 1616. 5 Ed. 1616 "two." 6 Old eds. "Ponto." |