_How Dr. Faustus desired again of his Spirit, to know the Secrets and
Pains of Hell; and whether those damned Devils, and their Company,
might ever come to the Favour and Love of God again._
Dr. Faustus was pondering with himself how he might get loose from so
damnable an end as he had given himself unto, both soul and body; but
his repenting was like that of Cain and Judas--he thought his sin
greater than God could forgive; hereupon resting his mind, he looked up
to heaven, but saw nothing therein, for his heart was so possessed of
the devil that he could think of nought else but of hell and the pains
thereof.
Wherefore in all haste he called unto him his spirit Mephistophiles,
desiring him to tell him some more of the secrets of hell; what pain the
damned are in, and how they were tormented; and whether the damned souls
might get again the favour of God, and so be released out of their
torments or not.
Whereupon the spirit answered: "My Faustus, thou mayst well leave to
question any more of such matters, for they will but disquiet thy mind;
I pray thee, what meanest thou, thinkest thou through these thy
fantasies to escape us? No, for if thou shouldst climb up to heaven,
there to hide thyself, yet would I thrust thee down again; for thou art
mine, and thou belongest to our society. Therefore, sweet Faustus, thou
wilt repent this thy foolish demand, except thou be content that I shall
tell thee nothing."
Quoth Faustus, ragingly: "I will know, or I will not live, wherefore
dispatch and tell me."
To whom Mephistophiles answered: "Faustus, it is no trouble unto me at
all to tell thee; and therefore since thou forcest me thereto, I will
tell thee things to the terror of thy soul, if thou wilt abide the
hearing: thou wilt have me to tell thee of the secrets of hell, and of
the pains thereof. Know, Faustus, that hell hath many figures,
semblances, and names; but it cannot be named or figured in such sort to
the living that are damned, as it is to those that are dead, and do both
see and feel the torments thereof: for hell is said to be deadly, out of
which came never any to life again but one, but he is nothing for thee
to reckon upon; hell is bloodthirsty, and is never satisfied: hell is a
valley into which the damned souls fall; for so soon as the soul is out
of man's body, it would gladly go to the place from whence it came, and
climbeth up above the highest hills, even to the heavens, where being by
the angels of the first model denied entertainment (in consideration of
their evil life spent on earth), they fall into the deepest pit or
valley, that hath no bottom, into a perpetual fire which shall never be
quenched; for like as the flint thrown in the water loseth not virtue,
neither is the fire extinguished, even so the hellish fire is
unquenchable: and even as the flint-stone in the fire burns red hot, and
consumeth not, so likewise the damned souls in our hellish fire are ever
burning, but their pain never diminishing. Therefore is hell called the
everlasting pain, in which is never hope for mercy; so it is called
utter darkness, in which we see neither the light, the sun, moon, nor
stars; and were our darkness like the darkness of night, yet were there
hope of mercy: but ours is perpetual darkness, clean exempt from the
face of God. Hell hath also a place within it, called Chasma, out
of which issueth all manner of thunders and lightnings, with such
shriekings and wailings, that oftentimes the very devils themselves
stand in fear thereof; for one while it sendeth forth wind, with
exceeding snow, hail, and rain, congealing the water into ice, with
the which the damned are frozen, gnash their teeth, howl, and cry,
yet cannot die. Other whiles, it sendeth forth most horrible hot
mists, or fogs, with flashing of flames of fire and brimstone, wherein
the sorrowful souls of the damned lie broiling in their reiterated
torments. Yea, Faustus, hell is called a prison, wherein the damned
lie continually bound; it is called Pernicies and Exitium, death,
destruction, hurtfulness, mischief, a mischance, a pitiful and evil
thing, world without end. We have also with us in hell a ladder,
reaching of exceeding height, as though the top of the same would touch
the heaven, to which the damned ascend to seek the blessing of God, but
through their infidelity, when they are at very highest degree, they
fall down again into their former miseries, complaining of the heat of
that unquenchable fire; yea, sweet Faustus, so much understand thou of
hell, the while thou art desirous to know the secrets of our kingdom.
And mark, Faustus, hell is the nurse of death, the heat of fire, the
shadow of heaven and earth, the oblivion of all goodness; the pains
unspeakable, the griefs unremovable, the dwelling of the devils.
Dragons, serpents, adders, toads, crocodiles, and all manner of venomous
and noisome creatures; the puddle of sin, the stinking far ascending
from the Stygian lake, brimstone, pitch, and all manner of unclean
metals, the perpetual and unquenchable fire, the end of whose miseries
was never purposed by God. Yea, yea, Faustus, thou sayest I shall, I
must, nay, I will tell thee the secrets of our kingdom, for thou buyest
it dearly, and thou must and shalt be partaker of our torments, that, as
the Lord said, shall never cease, for hell, the woman's belly, and the
earth, are never satisfied; there shalt thou abide horrible torments,
howling, crying, burning, freezing, melting, swimming in a labyrinth of
miseries, scolding, smoking in thine eyes, stinking in thy nose,
hoarseness in thy speech, deafness in thy ears, trembling in thy hands,
biting thine own tongue with pain, thy heart crushed as with a press,
thy bones broken, the devils tossing firebrands unto thee: yea, thy
whole carcass tossed upon muck-forks from one devil to another; yea,
Faustus, then wilt thou wish for death, and he will fly from thee, thine
unspeakable torments shall be every day augmented more and more, for the
greater the sin the greater is the punishment. How likest thou this, my
Faustus? A resolution answerable to thy request.
"Lastly, Thou wilt have me tell thee that which only belongeth to God,
which is, if it be possible for the damned to come again into the favour
of God, or not. Why, Faustus, thou knowest that this is against thy
promise; for why shouldst thou desire to know that having already given
thy soul to the devil, to have the pleasure of the world, and to know
the secrets of hell; therefore thou art damned, and how canst thou then
come again to the favour of God? Wherefore I discreetly answer, no; for
whomsoever God hath forsaken and thrown into hell must there abide his
wrath and indignation in that unquenchable fire, where is no hope of
mercy to be looked for, but abiding his perpetual pains, world without
end: for even as much it availeth thee, Faustus, to hope for the favour
of God again as Lucifer himself; who indeed, although he and we have a
hope, yet it is to small avail and taketh none effect, for out of that
place God will neither hear crying nor singing; if he do, thou shalt
have a little remorse, as Dives, Cain, and Judas had. What helpeth the
emperor, king, prince, duke, earl, baron, lord, knight, esquire, or
gentleman, to cry for mercy being there? Nothing; for if on earth they
would not be tyrants and self-willed, rich with covetousness, proud with
pomp, gluttons, drunkards, whoremongers, backbiters, robbers, murderers,
blasphemers, and such like, then were there some hope to be looked for;
therefore, my Faustus, as thou comest to hell with these qualities thou
mayst say with Cain, 'My sins are greater than can be forgiven;' go hang
thyself with Judas; and lastly, be contented to suffer torments with
Dives. Therefore know, Faustus, that the damned have neither end nor
time appointed in the which they may hope to be released; for if there
were any such hope that they, by throwing one drop of water out of the
sea in a day until it were dry, or there were one heap of sand as high
as from the earth to the heavens, that a bird carrying away but one corn
in a day, at the end of this so long labour, that yet they might hope at
the last God would have mercy on them, they would be comforted; but now
there is no hope that God once thinks upon them, or that their howling
shall ever be heard; yea, so impossible it is for thee to hide thyself
from God, as it is impossible for thee to remove the mountains, or to
empty the sea, or to tell the drops of rain that have fallen from heaven
until this day, or to tell what there is most of in the world; yea, and
as for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, even so impossible it
is for thee, Faustus, and the rest of the damned, to come again into the
favour of God. And thus, Faustus, hast thou heard my last sentence, and
I pray thee, how dost thou like it? But know this, that I counsel thee
to let me be unmolested hereafter with such disputations, or else will I
vex thee every limb to thy small contentment."
Dr. Faustus parted from his spirit very pensive and sorrowful, laying
him on his bed, altogether doubtful of the grace and favour of God,
wherefore he fell into fantastical cogitations. Fain he would have had
his soul at liberty again, but the devil had so blinded him, and had
taken such deep root in his heart, that he could never think to crave
God's mercy; or, if by chance he had any good motion, straightways the
devil would thrust in a fair lady into his chamber, which fell to
kissing and dalliance with him, through which means he threw the godly
motions in the wind, going forward still in his wicked practice, to the
utter ruin both of body and soul.