king in his profound and awe-inspiring
tones, "didst thou take all thy miseries which at this moment afflict
thy race, combine all the bitter woes, and crushing sorrows that madden
the brains of men, mix up all the tears and collect all the sobs and
sighs that tell of human agony, then multiply the aggregate by ten
million, million times its sum, and go on multiplying by millions and
millions, till thou wast tired of counting, thou would'st not form even
an idea of that huge amount of human misery which could alone appease
me. For on man do I visit the hate wherewith my own fall has animated
me; powerless on high, where once I was so powerful, I make my kingdom
of earth and hell--and in both my influence is great and is terrible!"

"Yes--yes; too great--too terrible!" exclaimed Wagner. "But why dost
thou persecute me with thy presence? I did not call thee--I did not
invoke thine aid."

"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
intimid