Mephistopheles.
But you must lend a hand, and so must I.
Faust.
One good turn deserves another.
Mephistopheles.
We must appear before a judge together,
And solemnly there testify
That stiff and stark her worthy spouse doth lie,
Beside the shrine of holy Antony.
Faust.
Most wise! we must first make a goodly travel!
Mephistopheles.
Sancta simplicitas! what stuff you drivel!
We may make oath, and not know much about it.
Faust.
If that’s your best, your best is bad. I scout it.
Mephistopheles.
O holy man that would outwit the devil!
Is it the first time in your life that you
Have sworn to what you knew could not be true?
Of God, the world, and all that it contains,
Of man, and all that circles in his veins,
Or dwells within the compass of his brains,
Have you not pompous definitions given,
With swelling breast and dogmatizing brow,
As if you were an oracle from heaven?
And yet, if the plain truth you will avow,
You knew as much of all these things, in faith,
As now you know of Master Schwerdtlein’s death!
Faust.
Thou art, and wert, a sophist and a liar.
Mephistopheles.
Yes, unless one could mount a little higher.
To-morrow I shall hear you pour
False vows that silly girl before,
Swear to do everything to serve her,
And love her with a quenchless fervor.
Faust.
And from my heart too.
Mephistopheles.
