thyself to him, who fears thee not in whatever shape thou mayst
appear.

The Devil flung back his mantle, and stood in a daring and majestic
attitude before the circle. His fiery eyes sparkled from beneath their
black brows, between which malice, hatred, fury, agony, and scorn had
formed themselves in thick folds. These furrows were sunk in a smooth,
clear, high-arched forehead, which contrasted strangely with the fiendish
marks between the eyes. A finely-formed aquiline nose inclined towards a
mouth which seemed to have been framed only for the enjoyment of immortal
things. He had the mien of a fallen angel, whose countenance was once
illuminated by the Godhead, but which was now obscured by a gloomy veil.

_Faustus_ (_in surprise_). Is man, then, every where at home? Who art
thou?

_Devil_. I am a prince of hell, and come because thy mighty call compels
me.

_Faustus_. A prince of hell under this mask; under the figure of a man!
I wished for a fiend, and not one of my own race.

_Devil_. Perhaps, Faustus, we are most so when we resemble ye; at least,
no mask suits us better. Besides, is it not your custom to conceal what
ye are, and to appear what ye are not?

_Faustus_. Bitter enough, and yet true as bitter; for, if our outsides
looked like our insides, we should not be very different from that which
we imagine you to be; still, I expected to see thee more terrible, and
even hoped that thy appearance would try the strength of my courage.

_Devil_. Thus do ye always imagine things contrary to what they are.
Probably you expected a devil with horns and a cloven foot, as the
cowardly age has depicted him. But since you have ceased to worship the
powers of nature, they have forsaken you, and you can no longer conceive
any thing great. If I were to stand before thee such as I really am,--my
eyes threatening comets, my body a dark, hovering cloud, which shoots
lightning from its gloom, in my hand the sword which I once brandished
against the Avenger, and on my arm the ponderous shield which his thunder
pierced,--thou wouldst become a heap of ashes in thy circle.

_Faustus_. But then I should at least see something great.

_Devil_. I might admire your courage; but you are never more ridiculous
than in these would-be grand bursts of feeling, when you contrast the
little you can embrace with the monstrous and great which are so high
above you. Thus may the worm measure the trampling elephant, and rec