"No, but thou requirest it!" said the demon, with a satirical smile. "Thinkest thou to be enabled to dream away thine existence in this island, with the warm, impassioned Nisida? No, mortal--no! Already doth she pine for her own native Italian clime; and she will end by loathing thee and this land, if she continue to dwell here, and with only thee as her companion. But it is in thy power to make Nisida forget Italy--Francisco--Flora--and all the grave interests and dreadful mysteries which seem to demand her presence in the busy world;--it is in thy power to render her happy and contented in this island--to attach her to thee for the remainder of thine existence--to provide her with the means of preserving her youth and her beauty unimpaired, even as thine own--to crush forever all those pinings and longings which now carry her glances wistfully across the sea,--in a word, to bend her mind to all thy wishes--her soul to all thy purposes! Yes;--it is in thy power to do all this--and the same decision which shall place that amount of ineffable happiness within thy reach, will also redeem thee from the horrible destiny of a Wehr-Wolf--leaving thee thy youth and thy beauty, and investing thee with a power equal to that enjoyed by thy late master, Faust." "And doubtless on the same conditions?" said Wagner, half-ironically, and half in horror at the mere thought of surrendering his soul to Satan. "Art thou blind to the means of promoting thy earthly happiness?" demanded the demon, fixing on Fernand a glance intended to appal and intimidate, but at which he on whom it was bent quailed not. "Hast thou not received sufficient experience of the terrific sufferings which twelve times a year thou art doomed to endure? Knowest thou not on each occasion thou destroyest human life, where mortal beings are in thy path--or that thou ravagest the fair scenes which He whose name I dare not mention has created? and art thou ignorant of the tremendous horror and loathsome obloquy which attach themselves to the name of a Wehr-Wolf? See--thou art already wearied of traveling through the various climes of the earth; thou no longer delightest in cultivating thine intellect, so marvelously adapted to receive knowledge of all kinds; and thy power to create whole mines of wealth is exercised no more. But thou would'st fix thine abode in this island forever, were Nisida to remain thy companion! Well--and if thou losest her? for assuredly a vessel will some day touch on these shores--what would'st thou do then? All lonely, desolate, forlorn, thou would'st curse the day that gave thee regenerated life--thou would'st seek death--and to thee death may not come yet for many, many years! Fernand, thou art worse than mad not to embrace my offers. Consent to become mine--mine eternally, when thy mortal breath shall leave thy body, and in the meantime I promise thee power illimitable--happiness such as no human being ever yet enjoyed----"