m I!
Dear son, beware!
Nor venture there!
Thou too must die!
It is of clay;
'Twill crumble away;
There fragments lie.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Of what use is the sieve

THE HE-MONKEY (_taking it down_)

The sieve would show,
If thou wert a thief or no?
[_He runs to the_ SHE-MONKEY, _and makes her look through it._]

Look through the sieve!
Dost know him the thief,
And dar'st thou not call him so?

MEPHISTOPHELES (_approaching the fire_)

And then this pot?

THE MONKEYS

The half-witted sot!
He knows not the pot!
He knows not the kettle!

MEPHISTOPHELES

Unmannerly beast!
Be civil at least!

THE HE-MONKEY

Take the whisk and sit down in the settle!

[_He makes_ MEPHISTOPHELES _sit down._]

FAUST (_who all this time has been standing before a looking-glass,
now approaching, and now retiring front it_)

What do I see? What form, whose charms transcend
The loveliness of earth, is mirror'd here!
O Love, to waft me to her sphere,
To me the swiftest of thy pinions lend!
Alas! If I remain not rooted to this place,
If to approach more near I'm fondly lur'd,
Her image fades, in veiling mist obscur'd!--
Model of beauty both in form and face!
Is't possible? Hath woman charms so rare?
In this recumbent form, supremely fair,
The essence must I see of heavenly grace?
Can aught so exquisite on earth be found?

MEPHISTOPHELES

The six days' labor of a god, my friend,
Who doth himself cry bravo, at the end,
By something clever doubtless should be crown'd.
For this time gaze your fill, and when you please
just such a prize for you I can provide;
How blest is he to whom kind fate decrees,
To take her to his home, a lovely bride!

[FAUST _continues to gaze into the mirror._]

MEPHISTOPHELES
[_stretching himself on the settle and playing
with the whisk, continues to speak._]

Here sit I, like a king upon his throne;
My sceptre this;--the crown I want alone.

THE MONKEYS (_who have hitherto been making all sorts of
strange gestures, bring_ MEPHISTOPHELES _a crown, with
loud cries)

Oh, be so good,
With sweat and with blood
The crown to lime!

[_They handle the crown awkwardly and break it in two
pieces, with which they skip about._]

'Twas fate's decree!
We speak and see!
We hear and rhyme.

FAUST (_before the mirror_)

Woe's me! well-nigh distraught I feel!

MEPHISTOPHELES (_pointing to the beasts_)

And even my own head almost begins to reel.

THE MONKEYS

If good luck attend,
If fi