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The Witch Returns
The Witch Returns
The Witch
Ough! ough! ough! ough!
Accursed brute! accursed sow!
The caldron dost neglect, for shame!
Accursed brute to scorch the dame!
(Perceiving Faust and Mephistopheles)
Whom have we here?
Who`s sneaking here?
Whence are ye come?
With what desire?
The plague of fire
Your bones consume!
(She dips the skimming - ladle into the caldron and throws flames at
Faust, Mephistopheles, and the Monkeys. The Monkeys whimper.)
Mephistopheles
(twirling the whisk which he holds in his hand, and striking among the
glasses and pots)
Dash! Smash!
There lies the glass!
There lies the slime!
`Tis but a jest;
I but keep time,
Thou hellish pest,
To thine own chime!
(While the Witch steps back in rage and astonishment.)
Dost know me! Skeleton! Vile scarecrow, thou!
Thy lord and master dost thou know?
What holds me, that I deal not now
Thee and thine apes a stunning blow?
No more respect to my red vest dost pay?
Does my cock`s feather no allegiance claim?
Have I my visage masked to - day?
Must I be forced myself to name?
The Witch
Master, forgive this rude salute!
But I perceive no cloven foot.
And your two ravens, where are they?
Mephistopheles
This once I must admit your plea; -
For truly I must own that we
Each other have not seen for many a day.
The culture, too, that shapes the world, at last
Hath e`en the devil in its sphere embraced;
The northern phantom from the scene hath pass`d,
Tail, talons, horns, are nowhere to be traced!
As for the foot, with which I can`t dispense,
`Twould injure me in company, and hence,
Like many a youthful cavalier,
False calves I now have worn for many a year.
The Witch (dancing)
I am beside myself with joy,
To see once more the gallant Satan here!
Mephistopheles
Woman, no more that name employ!
The Witch
But why! what mischief hath it done?
Mephistopheles
To fable - books it now doth appertain;
But people from the change have nothing won.
Rid of the evil one, the evil ones remain.
Lord Baron call thou me, so is the matter good;
Of other cavaliers the mien I wear.
Dost make no question of my gentle blood;
See here, this is the scutcheon that I bear!
(He makes an unseemly gesture.)
The Witch
(laughing immoderately)
Ha! Ha! Just like yourself! You are, I ween,
The same mad wag that you have ever been!
Mephistopheles (to Faust)
My friend, learn this to understand, I pray!
To deal with witches this is still the way.
The Witch
Now tell me, gentlemen, what you desire?
Mephistopheles
Of your known juice a goblet we require.
But for the very oldest let me ask;
Double its strength with years doth grow.
The Witch
Most willingly! And here I have a flask,
From which I`ve sipp`d myself ere now;
What`s more, it doth no longer stink;
To you a glass I joyfully will give.
(Aside.)
If unprepar`d, however, this man drink,
He hath not, as you know, an hour to live.
Mephistopheles
He`s my good friend, with whom `twill prosper well;
I grudge him not the choicest of thy store.
Now draw thy circle, speak thy spell,
And straight a bumper for him pour!
(The Witch, with extraordinary gestures, describes a circle, and places
strange things within it. The glasses meanwhile begin to ring, the caldron to
sound, and to make music. Lastly, she brings a great book; places the Monkeys
in the circle to serve her as a desk, and to hold the torches. She beckons
Faust to approach.)
Faust (to Mephistopheles)
Tell me, to what doth all this tend?
Were will these frantic gestures end?
This loathsome cheat, this senseless stuff
I`ve known and hated long enough.
Mephistopheles
Mere mummery, a laugh to raise!
Pray don`t be so fastidious! She
But as a leech, her hocus - pocus plays,
That well with you her potion may agree.
(He compels Faust to enter the circle.)
(The Witch, with great emphasis, begins to declaim the book.)
[Hear This you must know!]
This you must know!
Make ten out of one,
Then let two go;
Make an even three,
Then rich you will be.
Discard the four!
Of five and six,
Says the witch, you`ll fix
Up seven and eight,
Till it comes out straight;
And nine is one,
And ten is none,
This is the witch`s one - times - one!
This must thou ken:
Of one make ten,
Pass two, and then
Make square the three,
So rich thou`lt be.
Drop out the four!
From five and six,
Thus essays the witch,
Make seven and eight.
So all is straight!
And nine is one,
And ten is none,
This is the witch`s one - time - one!
Faust
The hag doth as in fever rave.
Mephistopheles
To these will follow many a stave.
I know it well, so rings the book throughout;
Much time I`ve lost in puzzling o`er its pages,
For downright paradox, no doubt,
A mystery remains alike to fools and sages,
Ancient the art and modern too, my friend.
`Tis still the fashion as it used to be,
Error instead of truth abroad to send
By means of three and one, and one and three.
`Tis ever taught and babbled in the schools.
Who`d take the trouble to dispute with fools?
When words men hear, in sooth, they usually believe,
That there must needs therein be something to conceive.
The Witch (continues)
The lofty power
Of wisdom`s dower,
From all the world conceal`d!
Who thinketh not,
To him I wot,
Unsought it is reveal`d.
Faust
What nonsense doth the hag propound?
My brain it doth well - nigh confound.
A hundred thousand fools or more,
Methinks I hear in chorus roar.
Mephistopheles
Incomparable Sibyl cease, I pray!
Hand us the liquor without more delay.
And to the very brim the goblet crown!
My friend he is, and need not be afraid;
Besides, he is a man of many a grade,
Who hath drunk deep already.
(The Witch, with many ceremonies, pours the
liquor into a cup; as Faust lifts
it to his mouth, a light flame arises.)
Mephistopheles
Gulp it down!
No hesitation! It will prove
A cordial, and your heart inspire!
What! with the devil hand and glove,
And yet shrink back afraid of fire?
(The Witch dissolves the circle. Faust steps out.)
Mephistopheles
Now forth at once! thou dar`st not rest.
Witch
And much, sir, may the liquor profit you!
Mephistopheles (to the Witch)
And if to pleasure thee I aught can do,
Pray on Walpurgis mention thy request.
Witch
Here is a song, sung o`er, sometimes you`ll see,
That `twill a singular effect produce.
Mephistopheles (to Faust)
Come, quick, and let thyself be led by me;
Thou must perspire, in order that the juice
Thy frame may penetrate through every part.
Then noble idleness I thee will teach to prize,
And soon with ecstasy thou`lt recognise
How Cupid stirs and gambols in thy heart.
Faust
Let me but gaze one moment in the glass!
Too lovely was that female form!
Mephistopheles
Nay! nay!
A model which all women shall surpass,
In flesh and blood ere long thou shalt survey.
(Aside.)
As works that draught, thou presently shalt greet
A Helen in each woman thou dost meet.
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