Faust. Herein!
Mephis. Du musst es dreimal sagen.
Faust. Herein denn!
Mephis. So gefällst du mir."
Why must he say it three times? Is this a superstition that can be traced in other countries than Germany? In Horace we have Diana thus addressed:
"Ter vocata audis, adimisque letho,
Diva triformis."—Lib. iii. Ode 22.
But she is there the benign Diana, not Hecate.
Are we to understand the passage to mean, that the number three has a magical influence in summoning spirits; or to teach that the power of evil is so overruled by a higher Power, that he cannot approach to begin his work of temptation and ruin unless he be, not once merely, or twice, but three times, called by the free will and act of the individual who is surrendering himself to his influence? The subject seems worthy of elucidation.
W. Fraser.