MARGARET.
| Think of me for just a little moment’s time,
|
| I shall have a lot of time to think of you!
|
FAUST.
MARGARET.
| Yes, our household’s rather small,
|
3110
| but still it needs much looking after.
|
| We keep no maid, so I must cook and sweep and knit,
|
| and sew and run, from morning until late at night.
|
| And mother is so finicky
|
| with every little chore!
|
| Not that she needs to skimp with downright everything;
|
| we’re still much better off than many others:
|
| My father left us quite a nice estate,
|
| a house, a little garden just outside the town.
|
| But of late I’ve had some rather quiet days;
|
3120
| my brother is a soldier;
|
| my little sister’s dead.
|
| I spent some trying moments with the child,
|
| but I would gladly take on twice the trouble;
|
| she was so very dear to me.
|
FAUST.
| An angel if she resembled you.
|
MARGARET.
| I brought her up. She loved me dearly too.
|
| My father died before she came into the world.
|
| My mother we had given up for lost,
|
| her condition was so desperate,
|
| but she recovered slowly, step by step.
|
3130
| After that, she could not even think of trying
|
| to nurse the little mite herself,
|
| and so I reared it all alone
|
| with milk and water.—She became my own.
|
| In my arms and on my knee
|
| she grinned and wriggled and grew strong.
|
FAUST.
| You must have felt the purest bliss.
|
MARGARET.
| But many fretful hours too.
|
| At night I placed the little creature’s cradle
|
| beside my bed, and if she stirred the slightest bit,
|
3140
| I was awake immediately.
|
| I would feed her—or would place her next to me,
|
| or else, to quiet her, I’d leave my bed
|
| and rock her gently as I paced the room,
|
| and bright and early I would do the wash,
|
| then off to market, then stoke the kitchen range,
|
| and on and on, tomorrow like today.
|
| One does not always feel like smiling, sir,
|
| but then the food tastes good, and sleep tastes even better.
|
| (
They pass on
.)
|
MARTHA.
| We women get the worst of everything;
|
3150
| a bachelor is difficult to sway.
|
MEPHISTOPHELES.
| It would depend on women like yourself
|
| to teach me what is better.
|
MARTHA.
| Be frank, dear sir, you never found the real thing?
|
| You haven’t tied your heart to anyone?
|
MEPHISTOPHELES.
| The proverb says: A hearth, a goodly woman of one’s own,
|
| are worth their weight in pearls and gold.
|
MARTHA.
| What I meant was: Did you ever feel inclined?
|
MEPHISTOPHELES.
| Everywhere I’ve been politely treated.
|
MARTHA.
| I mean, were your intentions ever serious?
|
MEPHISTOPHELES.
3160
| One should never trifle with the ladies.
|
MARTHA.
| Ah, you do not grasp my meaning.
|
MEPHISTOPHELES.
| I’m sincerely pained,
|
| but I can grasp—that you are very good to me.
|
| (
They pass on
.)
|
FAUST.
| You knew me, little angel, right away,
|
| when I entered through your garden door?
|
MARGARET.
| Didn’t you see? I cast down my eyes.
|
FAUST.
| Will you forgive the liberty I took,
|
| the impertinence and my brazen words,
|
| when you were coming out of church?
|
MARGARET.
| I was upset. I could not cope with such a thing.
|
3170
| No one till now found fault with me.
|
| Could he have seen in me—I thought—
|
| brazenness and a lack of modesty?
|
| He showed no qualm or hesitation
|
| to strike a bargain with a wench.
|
| Let me confess! I could not fathom why
|
| I felt a sudden stirring in your favor.
|
| And surely, I was angry with myself
|
| because I was not angrier with you.
|
FAUST.
MARGARET.
| Wait awhile.
|
| (
She picks a daisy and plucks the petals, one by one.)
|
FAUST.
MARGARET.
FAUST.
MARGARET.
3180
| Go away, you’ll laugh at me.
|
| (
She plucks petals, murmuring to herself
.)
|
FAUST.
MARGARET
(
half aloud
)
.
| He loves me … loves me not.
|
FAUST.
| You countenance of Heaven!
|
MARGARET
(
continues
)
.
| Loves me—Not—Loves me—Not—
|
| (
Plucking the last petal, radiant with joy
.)
|
| He loves me!
|
FAUST.
| Yes, my sweet! Oh, let this flower’s word
|
| be the pronouncement of the gods. He loves you!
|
| Can you feel the word’s profundity? He loves you!
|
| (
He grasps both her hands
.)
|
MARGARET.
FAUST.
| Oh, do not tremble. Look into my eyes;
|
| let my hands which press your hands convey to you
|
3190
| the inexpressible:
|
| to give oneself completely and to feel an ecstasy
|
| which must be everlasting!
|
| Everlasting!—the end would be despair.
|
| No—no end! no end!
|
| (
MARGARET
clasps his hands, frees herself
,
and runs off
.
FAUST
stands for a moment in deep
thought, then follows her
.)
|
MARTHA
(
coming forward
)
.
MEPHISTOPHELES.
MARTHA.
| I would prefer to have you stay awhile,
|
| but our town is mean and petty.
|
| People here can think of nothing better
|
| than spying on their neighbor’s every move.
|
3200
| For this they’ll gladly set aside their daily chores
|
| and gossip if they’re given half a chance.
|
| And what of our little couple?
|
MEPHISTOPHELES.
| Flew up the garden path.
|
| The willful birds of summer!
|
MARTHA.
| He seems to like her well.
|
MEPHISTOPHELES.
| And she likes him. The world keeps spinning.
|
A SUMMER CABIN
Margaret rushes in and hides behind the door, puts her finger to her lips and peeps through a crack.
MARGARET.
FAUST.
| Oh, you rascal, you’re teasing me!
|
| I’ve caught you!
|
| (
He kisses her
.)
|
MARGARET
(
clasps him and returns his kiss
)
.
| Dearest man! With all my heart I love you so! (
MEPHISTOPHELES
knocks
.)
|
FAUST
(
stamping his foot
)
.
MEPHISTOPHELES.
FAUST.
MEPHISTOPHELES.
| I think it’s time for us to leave.
|
MARTHA
(
entering
)
.
| Yes indeed, good sir, it’s getting late.
|
FAUST.
| May I not see you to your home?
|
MARGARET.
| My mother would—Farewell!
|
FAUST.
| If I must really leave you then—
|
| Farewell!
|
MARTHA.
MARGARET.
3210
| Until we meet again!
|
| (
FAUST
and
MEPHISTOPHELES
exit
.)
|
MARGARET.
| Dear God! The many thoughts and weighty matters
|
| to which this man can put his mind!
|
| All I can do is stand abashed
|
| and nod my “yes” to everything.
|
| I’m such a silly child and cannot grasp
|
| whatever he may find in me.
|
| (
Exits
.)
|
FOREST AND CAVERN
FAUST
(
alone
)
.
| Sublime Spirit,
32
you gave me everything,
|
| gave me all I ever asked. Not in vain
|
| you turned your fiery countenance on me.
|
3220
| You gave me glorious Nature for my kingdom,
|
| the strength to feel and to enjoy Her. You gave me
|
| more than a visit merely of cold wonderment;
|
| you granted that I peer into Her boundless depths
|
| as I peer into a friendly heart.
|
| And you pass the ranks of living creatures
|
| before me, and you acquaint me with my brothers
|
| in silent bush, in airy heights and water.
|
| When the winds roar in and rattle,
|
| and giant spruces break and topple,
|
3230
| crushing neighbors and obstructing limbs,
|
| and the hill responds with inward thunder—
|
| then you lead me to the sheltered cavern,
|
| and show me to myself, and then reveal
|
| to me profundities within my breast.
|
| And when the pure moon rises
|
| soothingly before my gaze,
|
| the silver phantoms of a bygone age
|
| drift toward me from rocky walls and dew-soaked bushes
|
| and temper meditation’s austere pleasure.
|
