w rash and hasty are men! Learn but to know me, and, if I
cannot gratify thy wildest earthly desires, return to poverty, to
contempt, and thy starving philosophy. Step forth, I say.

_Faustus_. The fury of a lion inflames me, and, if hell were to yawn
beneath my foot, I would spring beyond the limits of humanity.

He sprang out of the circle, and cried,

"I am thy lord."

_Devil_. Yes; as long as thy time runs. I lead a mighty man by the
hand, and am proud to be his slave.

CHAPTER II.

On the following morning the devil Leviathan came with all the pomp and
retinue of a nobleman to the inn where Faustus sojourned. He alighted
from his richly caparisoned steed, and asked the host whether the famous
Faustus sojourned there?

The host replied by a reverential bow, and ushered him into the house.
The Devil then advanced to Faustus, and said to him, in the presence of
the host:

"Your renown, your great talents, and, above all, your mighty invention,
have induced me to make a wide circuit in my journey in order to become
acquainted with so remarkable a man, whom the world, in spite of its
lukewarmness, knows how to value. I came, likewise, to request your
company in the tour of Europe, and shall be happy to accede to whatever
stipulations you may choose to make, for I am perfectly aware that such a
pleasure is above all price."

Faustus played his part agreeably to that of the Devil; and the host
hurried out in order to relate the adventure to his household. The
rumour was immediately spread, by a thousand channels, through all
Frankfort; and the arrival of the distinguished stranger was soon known,
from the sentinel at the city-gate to his most worshipful the mayor
himself. Away ran the magistrates, as if the Devil drove them, to the
senate-house, leaving all the weighty affairs of state to remain
unsettled whilst they consulted about this unexpected apparition. The
senior alderman, a patrician, who was particularly expert in deciphering
the meaning of the signs which occasionally appeared in the political
horizon, and had thereby obtained a powerful ascendency in the council,
pressed his fat chin into furrows, and his narrow brow into wrinkles,
and, with reflection in his little eyes, assured his sapient brethren
that "This distinguished stranger was nothing else than a secret envoy of
his imperial majesty, who was come into Germany to observe attentively
the situation, the comparative strength