Faustus. Then be a spirit, and speak! Shake off this figure.
Devil. Wilt thou then understand me?
Faustus. Shake off this figure, and let me see thee as a spirit.
Devil. Thy words are folly. Now, then, see me: I shall exist, but not for thee; I shall speak, but thou wilt not catch my meaning.
Leviathan then melted into a thin clear flame, and disappeared.
Faustus. Speak, and unfold the enigma.
As the soft west wind moves along the perfumed meadows and gently kisses the tender flowers, so did it murmur around the ears of Faustus. Then the murmur changed to a loud continued tumult, which resembled the rolling of thunder, or the dash of a breaker against the coral reef, or its howl and bellow in the caves of the ocean. Faustus crept close within his circle, and with difficulty supported himself.
Faustus. Ah, if this be the language of spirits, my dream has vanished; I am deceived, and must gnash my teeth in darkness. I have, then, exchanged my soul for the gratification of earthly lust! for that is all in which this intriguing devil can assist me. That is all against which I
risked eternity! I thought to move among men enlightened as no one had ever yet been, and to dazzle them with my glory like the rising sun. The sublime thought of living for ever as the greatest in their hearts is gone; and I am more wretched than I was. Where art thou, trickster, that I may vent my fury upon thee?
Devil (in his former figure). Here I am. I spoke, and thou didst not understand the sense of my words. Dost thou not feel that thou art born for darkness? Thou canst not become that which thou must not. Withdraw thy mind from impossibilities, and direct it to what is attainable. Thou wishedst to hear the language of spirits; thou heardst it, and wert stunned and deafened by the sound.