The history of the damnable life and deserved death of Doctor John Faustus, 1592, together with The second report of Faustus, containing his appearances and the deeds of Wagner, 1594.
History
The history of the damnable life and deserved death of Doctor John Faustus, 1592, together with The second report of Faustus, containing his appearances and the deeds of Wagner, 1594.
Faust, -approximately 1540 -- Legends
This right marvellous triumph thus presented, each one did his humble
obeisance, the best beginning (though good there were none) and in
the end with huge tumult and echoing of trumpets they crowned him a
King, which when they had done, with the like ceremonies they conveyed
out again the Doctor whom his wretchedness made a King, and his new
King-ship nothing. Wagner started as if he had now begun to marvel,
amazed at this merry Interlude, having recovered his memory again, he
began softly to speak to himself in such-like manner. Is this (quoth
he) the honour my Master hath in Hell? Is this the reverence with
which the Fiends infernal use to entertain such guests? O ye Spirits
of Hell, and ye even now revived Emperors of great Limbus, from whence
have you drawn this extraordinary humanity, is it to scorn poor Faustus
or to mock Wagner that you shew such reverence to a vile object, what
then would they do to Wagner who is worthy to have a fitter servant
than their King? At these words he blushed exceedingly, and began to
rage very grievously with his conscience’s terror, and with some few
tears repenting his irreligious conclusion, rose up from the ground,
and supposing it to be but an illusion, dream, or a temptation, or
else some conceit proceeding from his moist and melancholic fantasy,
overpressed with too many vapours, raised up by continual thought
into his Pores: wherefore he went forthwith into the streets (so
much he distrusted himself) and demanded whether it rained, hailed,
or thundered, and it was answered that it neither rained, hailed,
nor thundered. Wagner, albeit he was newly revived from a fear, and
scarcely thoroughly wakened from this his great terror, yet with this
comical jest his decayed spirits began to recover their old strength
and power, turning these great braveries of Devils into a merriment,
and his conceived fear into a mere fancy. This was the first time that
ever Faustus appeared unto his servant Wagner, who recited this unto
his companions as a matter of great truth and little moment.
CHAPTER II
_How certain drunken Dutchmen were abused by their
own conceit and self-imagination, of seeing the
grand Doctor, Doctor Faustus_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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