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How Doctor Faustus Journeyed Up
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How Doctor Faustus Journeyed Up
into the Stars
XVI
This record was also found among his possessions, having been composed and indited in his own hand and addressed to one of his close companions, a physic in Leipzig named Jonas Victor. The contents were as followeth:
Most dear Lord, and Brother,
I yet remember, as ye no doubt do, too, our school days in Wittemberg, where ye at first devoted yourself to medicina, astronomia, astrologia, geometria, so that ye are now a mathematicus and physicus. But I was not like unto you. I, as well ye know, did study theologia--although I nevertheless became your equal in the arts ye studied, too.
Now, as to your request that I report some few matters unto you and give you my advice: I, neither being accustomed to denying you aught, nor having ever refused to report aught to you, am still your servant, whom ye shall ever find and know to be such. I do express my gratitude for the honor and praise which ye accord me. In your epistle ye make mention of mine Ascension unto Heaven, among the stars, for ye have heard about it, and ye write requesting that I might inform you whether it be so or not, sithence such a thing doth seem to you quite impossible. Ye remark in addition that it must have occurred with the aid of the Devil or of sorcery. As quoth the clown to the Emperor when asked if he had sullied his breeches, " Ay, how wilt thou bet, Fritz! " --Well, whatever means might have been used, it hath finally been accomplished, and of this figura, actus and event I can make you the following report:
One night I could not go to sleep, but lay thinking about my almanacs and horoscopes and about the properties and arrangements in the Heavens, how man--or some of the physics--hath measured those ornaments and would interpret them, even though he cannot really visualize such things and hence must base his interpretations and calculations quite arbitrarily on books and the tenets in them. While in such thoughts, I heard a loud blast of wind go against my house. It threw open my shutters, my chamber door and all else, so that I was not a little astonished. Right afterward I heard a roaring voice saying:
Get thee up! Thy heart's desire, intent and lust shalt thou see.
I made answer: If it be possible for me to see that which hath just been the object of my thoughts and wishes, then I am well content.
He did answer again, saying: Then look out at thy window where thou canst see our carriage.
That I did, and I saw a coach with two dragons come flying down. The coach was illuminated with the flames of Hell, and inasmuch as the moon shone in the sky that night I could see my steeds as well. These creatures had mottled brown and white wings and the same color back; their bellies, however, were of a greenish hue with yellow and white flecks.
The voice spake again: Well get thee in and be off!
I answered: I will follow thee, but only on condition that I may ask any question I like.
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Good, he answered, be it then in this instance permitted thee. So I climbed up onto my casement, jumped down into my carriage, and off I went, the flying dragons drawing me ever upward; and it did seem a miracle that the coach really had four wheels that crunched right along as if I were journeying over land. --To be sure, the wheels did gush forth streams of fire as they whirled around.
The higher I ascended, the darker did the world become, and when I would look down into the world from the Heavens above, it was exactly as if I were gazing into a dark hole from bright daylight. In the midst of such upward shooting and soaring, my servant and spirit came whirring along and took a seat beside me in the coach.
I said to him: My Mephostophiles, what is to become of me now?
Let such thoughts neither confuse thee nor impede thee, spake he and drave on higher upward.
Now Will I Tell You What I Did See
XVII
Departing on a Tuesday, and returning on a Tuesday, I was out one week, during which time I neither slept nor did feel any sleep in me. Incidentally, I remained quite invisible throughout the journey. On the first morning, at break of day, I said to my Mephostophiles:
I suppose thou dost know how far we are come ( now as long as I was up there I knew neither hunger nor thirst, but I could well observe only by looking back at the world that I was come a good piece this night).
Mephostophiles said: In faith, my Fauste, thou art now come forty-seven mile up into the sky.
During the remainder of the day I discovered that I could look down upon the world and make out many kingdoms, principalities and seas. I could discern the worlds of Asia, Africa and Europe, and while at this altitude I said unto my servant:
Now point out to me and instruct me as to the names of these various lands and realms.
This he did, saying: This over here on the left is Hungary. Lo, there is Prussia. Across there is Sicily--Poland--Denmark--Italy -Germany. Now tomorrow shalt thou inspect Asia and Africa and canst see Persia, Tartary, India and Arabia. --But just look, right now the wind is changing and we can observe Pommerania, Muscovy and Prussia. See, there is Poland--and Germany again--Hungary--and Austria.
On the third day I did look down into Major and Minor Turkey, Persia, India and Africa. I saw Constantinople before me, and in the Persian and Constantinopolitan Sea many ships with war troops shuttling busily back and forth. Constantinople looked so small that there appeared to be no more than three houses there, with people not a span long.
Now I departed in July when it was very hot, and, as I looked now this way and now that, toward the East, South and North, I observed how it was raining at one place, thundering at another, how the hail did fall here while at another place the weather was fair. In fine, I saw all things in the world as they do usually come to pass.
After I had been up there for a week, I began to observe what was above me, watching from a distance how the Heavens did move and roll around so fast that they seemed about to fly asunder into many thousand pieces, the cloud sphere cracking so violently as if it were about to burst and break the world open. The Heavens were so bright that 1 could not perceive anything any higher up, and it was so hot that I should have burned to a crisp had my servant not charmed a breeze up for me. The cloud sphere which we see down there in the world is as solid and thick as a masonry wall, but it is of one piece and as clear as crystal. The rain, which originates there and then falls upon the earth, is so clear that we could see ourselves reflected in it.
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Now this cloud sphere moveth in the Heavens with such a force that it runneth from East to West despite the fact that sun, moon and stars strive against it, so that the momentum of the cloud sphere doth indeed drive sun, moon and stars along with it. Thus we see how and why these bodies needs must proceed from East to West. Down in our world it doth appear --and I myself thought so, too--that the sun is no bigger than the head of a barrel. But it is in fact much bigger than the whole world: for I could discover no end to it at all. At night, when the sun goeth down, the moon must take on the sun's light, this being why the moon shineth so bright at night. And directly beneath Heaven there is so much light that even at night it is daytime in Heaven--this even though the earth remaineth quite dark. Thus I saw more than I had desired. One of the stars, for example, was larger than half the world. A planet is as large as the world. And, in the aery sphere, there I beheld the spirits which dwell beneath Heaven.
While descending, I did look down upon the world again, and it was no bigger than the yolk of an egg. Why, to me the world seemed scarcely a span long, but the oceans looked to be twice that size. Thus, on the evening of the seventh day did I arrive home again, and I slept for three days on a row. I have disposed my almanacs and horoscopes in accordance with my observations, and I did not wish to withhold this fact from you. Now inspect your books and see whether the matter is not in accordance with my vision.
And accept my cordial greetings,
Dr. Faustus
Astroseer.
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