And now, I almost feel an inclination
To give Theology the sway.
Mephistopheles.
I have no wish to lead you astray.
As to this science, ’tis so hard to eschew
The false way, and to hit upon the true,
And so much hidden poison lurks within,
That’s scarce distinguished from the medicine.
Methinks that here ’twere safest done
That you should listen but to one,
And jurare in verba magistri
Is the best maxim to assist thee.
Upon the whole, I counsel thee
To stick to words as much as may be,
For such will still the surest way be
Into the temple of certainty.
Student.
Yet in a word some sense must surely lurk.
Mephistopheles.
Yes, but one must not go too curiously to work;
For, just when our ideas fail us,
A well-coined word may best avail us.
Words are best weapons in disputing,
In system-building and uprooting,
To words most men will swear, though mean they ne’er so little,
From words one cannot filch a single tittle.
Student.
Pardon me, if I trespass on your time,
Though to make wisdom speak seems scarce a crime;
On medicine, too, I am concerned
To hear some pregnant word from one so learned.
Three years, God knows, is a short time,
And we have far to go, and high to climb;
A wise man’s fingers pointing to the goal
Will save full many a groan to many a laboring soul.
Mephistopheles. [aside]
I’m weary of this dry pedantic strain,
’Tis time to play the genuine devil again.
[Aloud.] The spirit of Medicine ’tis not hard to seize:
The world, both great and small, you seek to know,
That in the end you may let all things go
As God shall please.
In vain you range around with scientific eyes,
Each one at length learns only what he can;
But he who knows the passing hour to prize,
That is the proper man.
A goodly shape and mien you vaunt,
And confidence, I guess, is not your want,
Trust but yourself, and, without more ado,
All other men will straightway trust you too.
