LIGHT. _Melior vigilantia somno_. Stand not amaz'd, good man, for what appears Shall add to thy content; be void of fears: I am the shadow of rich kingly Croesus, Sent by his greatness from the lower world To make thee mighty, and to sway on earth By thy abundant store, as he himself doth In Elysium; how he reigneth there, His shadow will unfold; give thou then ear. In under-air, where fair Elysium stands, Beyond the river styled Acheron, He hath a castle built of adamant; Not fram'd by vain enchantment, but there fix'd By the all-burning hands of warlike spirits: Whose windows are compos'd of purest crystal, And deck'd within with oriental pearls: There the great spirit of Croesus' royal self Keeps his abode in joyous happiness. He is not tortur'd there, as poets feign, With molten gold and sulphury flames of fire, Or any such molesting perturbation; But there reputed as a demigod, Feasting with Pluto and his Proserpine, Night after night with all delicious cates, With greater glory than seven kingdoms' states. Now farther know the cause of my appearance-- The kingly Croesus having by fame's trump Heard that thy lov'd desires stand affected To the obtaining of abundant wealth, Sends me, his shade, thus much to signify, That if thou wilt become famous on earth, He'll give to thee even more than infinite; And after death with him thou shalt partake The rare delights beyond the Stygian lake. HOG. Great Croesus' shadow may dispose of me To what he pleaseth. LIGHT. So speaks obediency. For which I'll raise thy lowly thoughts as high, As Croesus's were in his mortality. Stand then undaunted, whilst I raise those spirits, By whose laborious task and industry Thy treasure shall abound and multiply. _Ascend, Ascarion, thou that art A powerful spirit, and dost convert Silver to gold; I say, ascend And on me, Croesus' shade, attend, To work the pleasure of his will._ _The_ PLAYER _appears_. PLAYER. What, would then Croesus list to fill Some mortal's coffers up with gold, Changing the silver it doth hold? By that pure metal, if't be so, By the infernal gates I swear, Where Rhadamanth doth domineer; By Croesus' name and by his castle, Where winter nights he keepeth wassail;[395] By Demogorgon and the fates, And by all these low-country states; That after knowledge of thy mind, Ascarion, like the swift-pac'd wind, Will fly to finish thy command.