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In Episode 2 when Madoka and Sayaka are with Mami looking for the Witch, after
saving the Office Lady who had the "Witch's Kiss" they enter the building we
see that there is text written on the wall at the entrance.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Iidhc.png)

Now it looks English however i don't make out what it says, I am wondering if
this text has any meaning and if it was in English in the original Japanese
Version (the screenshot is from the English Dub)


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-12T22:54:48.267
14416
2014-10-13T00:00:28.420
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question
madoka-magica
What does the text at the entrance mean?


The text on the wall are references to Faust, which foreshadows the plot for
the anime.

Original Text:

[code]

    Weh! Weh!
    Du hast sie zerstört,
    Die schöne Welt,
    Mit mächtiger Faust;
    Sie stürzt, sie zerfällt!
    Ein Halbgott hat sie zerschlagen!
    Wir tragen
    Die Trümmern ins Nichts hinüber,
    Und klagen
    Über die verlorne Schöne.
    Mächtiger
    Der Erdensöhne,
    Prächtiger
    Baue sie wieder,
    In deinem Busen baue sie auf!
    Neuen Lebenslauf
    Beginne,
    Mit hellem Sinne,
    Und neue Lieder
    Tönen darauf!   
    
[/code]

On the screenshot, you can kinda see the "Neuen Lebenslauf" and some of the
text.

Translation:

[code]

    Woe! woe!
    Thou hast it destroyed,
    The beautiful world,
    With powerful fist:
    In ruin ’tis hurled,
    By the blow of a demigod shattered!
    The scattered
    Fragments into the Void we carry,
    Deploring
    The beauty perished beyond restoring.
    Mightier
    For the children of men,
    Brighter
    Build it again,
    In thine own bosom build it anew!
    Bid the new career
    Commence,
    With clearer sense,
    And the new songs of cheer
    Be sung thereto!
    
[/code]

The text on another wall, near Getrud's Barrier:

[code]

    Verflucht voraus die hohe Meinung,
    Womit der Geist sich selbst umfängt!
    Verflucht das Blenden der Erscheinung,
    Die sich an unsre Sinne drängt!
    Verflucht was uns in Träumen heuchelt,
    Des Ruhms, der Namensdauer Trug!
    Verflucht was als Besitz uns schmeichelt,
    Als Weib und Kind, als Knecht und Pflug!    
    
[/code]

Translation:

[code]

    Cursed be, at once, the high ambition
    Wherewith the mind itself deludes!
    Cursed be the glare of apparition
    That on the finer sense intrudes!
    Cursed be the lying dream's impression
    of name, and fame, and laureled brow!
    Cursed, all that flatters as possession,
    As wife and child, as knave and plow!
    
[/code]

Spoiler:

> It is referring to the Faustian bargain that magical girls make with Kyubei.
> In exchange for their wish and their powers, they give Kyubei their souls.

Source: <http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Episode_2#References_to_Faust>


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2014-10-13T00:00:28.420
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2014-10-13T00:00:28.420
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