Juchhe, juchhe!
Juchheisa, heisa, he!
With fife and fiddle too.
An Old Peasant.
Herr Doctor, ’tis most kind in you,
And all here prize the boon, I’m sure,
That one so learned should condescend
To share the pastimes of the poor.
Here, take this pitcher, filled ev’n now
With cooling water from the spring.
May God with grace to slake your thirst,
Bless the libation that we bring;
Be every drop a day to increase
Your years in happiness and peace!
Faust.
Your welcome offering I receive; the draught
By kind hands given, with grateful heart be quaffed!
[The people collect round him in a circle.
Old Peasant.
Soothly, Herr Doctor, on this tide,
Your grace and kindness passes praise;
Good cause had we whileome to bless
The name of Faust in evil days.
Here stand there not a few whose lives
Your father’s pious care attest,
Saved from fell fever’s rage, when he
Set limits to the deadly pest.
You were a young man then, and went
From hospital to hospital;
Full many a corpse they bore away,
But you came scaithless back from all;
Full many a test severe you stood
Helping helped by the Father of Good.
All the Peasants.
Long may the man who saved us live,
His aid in future need to give!
Faust.
Give thanks to Him above, who made
The hand that helped you strong to aid.
[He goes on farther with Wagner.
Wagner.
How proud must thou not feel, most learnèd man,
To hear the praises of this multitude;
Thrice happy he who from his talents can
Reap such fair harvest of untainted good!
The father shows you to his son,
And all in crowds to see you run;
The dancers cease their giddy round,
The fiddle stops its gleesome sound;
They form a ring where’er you go,
