_Gen._ My blood is turn'd to ice, and all my vitals Have ceas'd their working. Dull stupidity Surpriseth me at once, and hath arrested That vigorous agitation, which till now Exprest a life within me. I, methinks, Am a meer marble statue, and no man. Unweave my age, O time, to my first thread; Let me lose fifty years, in ignorance spent; That, being made an infant once again, I may begin to know. What, or where am I, To be thus lost in wonder? _Wife._ Sir. _Gen._ Amazement still pursues me, how am I chang'd, Or brought ere I can understand myself Into this new world! _Rob._ You will believe no witches? _Gen._ This makes me believe all, aye, anything; And that myself am nothing. Prithee, Robin, Lay me to myself open; what art thou, Or this new transform'd creature? _Rob._ I am Robin; And this your wife, my mistress. _Gen._ Tell me, the earth Shall leave its seat, and mount to kiss the moon; Or that the moon, enamour'd of the earth, Shall leave her sphere, to stoop to us thus low. What, what's this in my hand, that at an instant Can from a four-legg'd creature make a thing So like a wife! _Rob._ A bridle; a jugling bridle, Sir. _Gen._ A bridle! Hence, enchantment. A viper were more safe within my hand, Than this charm'd engine.-- A witch! my wife a witch! The more I strive to unwind Myself from this meander, I the more Therein am intricated. Prithee, woman, Art thou a witch? _Wife._ It cannot be denied, I am such a curst creature. _Gen._ Keep aloof: And do not come too near me. O my trust; Have I, since first I understood myself, Been of my soul so chary, still to study What best was for its health, to renounce all The works of that black fiend with my best force; And hath that serpent twined me so about, That I must lie so often and so long With a devil in my bosom? _Wife._ Pardon, Sir. [_She looks down._] _Gen._ Pardon! can such a thing as that be hoped? Lift up thine eyes, lost woman, to yon hills; It must be thence expected: look not down Unto that horrid dwelling, which thou hast sought At such dear rate to purchase. Prithee, tell me, (For now I can believe) art thou a witch? _Wife._ I am. _Gen._ With that word I am thunderstruck, And know not what to answer; yet resolve me. Hast thou made any contract with that fiend, The enemy of mankind? _Wife._ O I have. _Gen._ What? and how far? _Wife._ I have promis'd him my soul. _Gen._ Ten thousand times better thy body had Been promis'd to the stake; aye, and mine too, To have suffer'd with thee in a hedge of flames, Than such a compact ever had been made. Oh-- Resolve me, how far doth that contract stretch? _Wife._ What interest in this Soul myself could claim, I freely gave him; but his part that made it I still reserve, not being mine to give. _Gen._ O cunning devil: foolish woman, know, Where he can claim but the least little part, He will usurp the whole. Thou'rt a lost woman. _Wife._ I hope, not so. _Gen._ Why, hast thou any hope? _Wife._ Yes, sir, I have.