Scene 8

[Enter Robin and Ralph with a silver goblet.]

ROBIN.
Come, Ralph, did not I tell thee we were for ever
made by this Doctor Faustus' book? Ecce, signum! Here's
a simple purchase for horse-keepers; our horses shall eat
no hay as long as this lasts.
RALPH.
But, Robin, here comes the vintner.(5)
ROBIN.
Hush! I'll gull him supernaturally.
Drawer, I hope all is paid: God be with you;—come, Ralph.

[Enter Vintner.]

VINTNER.
Soft, sir; a word with you. I must yet have a goblet paid from you, ere you go.
ROBIN.
I, a goblet, Ralph; I, a goblet!—I scorn you; and you(10)
are but a &c. I, a goblet! search me.
VINTNER.
I mean so, sir, with your favor.

[Searches Robin.]

ROBIN.
How say you now?
VINTNER.
I must say somewhat to your fellow. You, sir!
RALPH.
Me, sir! me, sir! search your fill. Now, sir, you may be ashamed to burden honest men with a matter of truth.
VINTNER.
[Searches Ralph] Well, t'one of you hath this goblet about you.
ROBIN.
You lie, drawer, 'tis afore me
Sirrah you, I'll teach you to impeach honest men;—(20)
[to Rafe] stand by; [to the Vintner] —I'll scour you for a goblet!—stand aside
you had best, I charge you in the name of Belzebub.
Look to the goblet, Ralph.

VINTNER.
What mean you, sirrah?
ROBIN.
I'll tell you what I mean.(25)
[Reads] Sanctobulorum Periphrasticon
—Nay, I'll tickle you, Vintner. Look to the goblet, Ralph.
[Reads] Polypragmos Belseborams framanto
pacostiphos tostu, Mephistophilis, &c.

[Enter Mephistophilis: sets squibs at their backs and then exits. They run about.]

VINTNER.
O nomine Domini! What meanest thou, Robin? Thou hast no goblet. (30)
RALPH.
Peccatum peccatorum! Here's thy goblet, good Vintner.
ROBIN.
Misericordia pro nobis! What shall I do? Good Devil
forgive me now, and I'll never rob thy library more (35)

[Re-enter Mephistophilis.]

MEPHISTOPHILIS.
Vanish, villians, th'one like an ape, another
like a bear, the third and ass, for doing this enterprise.

[Exit Vinter.]

Monarch of Hell, under whose black survey
Great potentates do kneel with awful fear,
Upon whose altars thousand souls do lie,
How am I vexed with these villains' charms?(40)
From Constantinople am I hither come
Only for pleasure of these damned slaves.
ROBIN.
How, from Constantinople? You have had a great
journey: will you take sixpence in your purse to pay for
your supper, and begone?(45)
MEPHISTOPHILIS.
Well, villains, for your presumption, I transform
thee into an ape, and thee into a dog; and so begone.

[Exit Mephistophilis.]

ROBIN.
How, into an ape; that's brave! I'll have fine sport with
the boys. I'll get nuts and apples enow.
RALPH.
And I must be a dog.(50)
ROBIN.
I'faith, thy head will never be out of the pottage pot.

[Exeunt.]

Chorus 3
Scene 7

Footnotes

  1. Notice that Mephistophilis does not consider Robin and Ralph "glorious souls" that are worth buying for the Devil. This could be a classed understanding of the afterlife, that low souls are not worth collecting. Or it could be another exploration of predestination. Perhaps Mephistophilis cannot collect these two souls because they are not predestined to damnation. Thus their involvement with magic is only a waste of his time.

    — Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff

  2. It is unclear from the stage directions whether or not Mephistophilis actually turns Robin into an ape and Ralph into a dog. This could be just a threat, or it could be a punishment that the two clowns do not treat as a punishment.

    — Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff

  3. This Latin phrase means "Sin of sins!" It is used as a type of curse or swearing.

    — Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff

  4. This Latin phrase means "Have mercy on us!" Notice that as soon as Ralph actually encounters Mephistophilis and the magic he seeks, he immediately retreats to a Christian context. He immediately revokes his dark magic, unlike Faustus who refused to repent every time he was given an opportunity.

    — Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff

  5. This Latin phrase means "In the name of the Lord." This phrase, and the two Ralph and Robin say following this were common in church mass and a part of the vernacular. Unlike the imitation spells that Robin comically fails to read, these phrases would have been understood by the low characters and the audience members.

    — Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff

  6. Robin attempts to read from Faustus's magic book. However, what he produces is dog-Latin, nonsense Latin words like abracadabra. Robin's imitation of scholarly Latin would have been obvious and funny to even the uneducated members of Marlowe's audience.

    — Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff

  7. "Ecce, signum" is Latin for behold the proof. Robin's "proof" that he can conjure magic is a silver goblet that he has stolen from a Vintner, or wine merchant. This is a parody of the stolen knowledge that Faustus has acquired; Robin has merely stolen a cup and blamed it on his magic book.

    — Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff