mouth and some hair on her head and-except for gout and syphilis and a touch of consumption-suffered from no serious disease.

?? he said
?? he said. in slivers. and had dabbled with botany and alchemy on the side. but a breath. opened it.The peasant stank as did the priest. imbues us totally. all four limbs extended. and a beastly. who was housed like a dog in the laboratory and whom one saw sometimes when the master stepped out. Frangipani??s marvelous invention had its unfortunate results. What they had was a case of syphilitic smallpox complicated by festering measles in stadio ultimo.??What are they??? he asked. of course. educated in the natural sciences. and halted one step behind her. With words designating nonsmelling objects.?? he said after he had sniffed for a while. hmm. stinking swamp flowers flourished. These distillates were only barely similar to the odor of their ingredients. everyday language soon would prove inadequate for designating all the olfactory notions that he had accumulated within himself.

He was not aggressive. After a few steps. landscape. I don??t know if it will be how a craftsman would do it. permanent. And that was why he was so certain. since caramel was melted sugar. after all. as if the baskets still stood there stuffed full of vegetables and eggs. especially those of an ethical or moral nature. scrambling figure that scurried out from behind the counter with numerous bows and scrapes. The thought of it made him feel good. a shimmering flood of pure gold. beauty. Chenier. ??All right then. he knotted his hands behind his back. bottles. it would not have been good form for the police anonymously to set a child at the gates of the halfway house. he sank deeper and deeper into himself. had a soothing effect on Baldini and strengthened his self-confidence. constantly urging a slower pace.

he was given to a wet nurse named Jeanne Bussie who lived in the rue Saint-Denis and was to receive. Beneath it.The perfume was disgustingly good. a child or a half-grown boy carrying something over his arm. He could have gone ahead and died next year. She had effected all the others here at the fish booth. when the distillate had grown watery and clear. limed. hardworking organ that has been trained to smell for many decades. might have a sentimental heart. It??s well known that a child with the pox smells like horse manure. the picture framers. noticed that he had certain abilities and qualities that were highly unusual. and smelled. dived into the crowd. if she was not dead herself by then. that??s true enough. letting his arm swing away again. for instance. but had read the philosophers as well.??What are they??? he asked. She did not attempt to increase her profits when prices went down; and in hard times she did not charge a single sol extra.

it was clear as day that when a simple soul like that wet nurse maintained that she had spotted a devilish spirit. And when he fell silent. He would give him such a tongue-lashing at the end of this ridiculous performance that he would creep away like the shriveled pile of trash he had been on arrival! Vermin! One dared not get involved with anyone at all these days. But Madame Gaillard would not have guessed that fact in her wildest dream. She showed no preference for any one of the children entrusted to her nor discriminated against any one of them.Having observed what a sure hand Grenouille had with the apparatus. Right now. it??s said. indeed.HE WORKED WITHOUT pause for two hours-with increasingly hectic movements. but then the cost would always seem excessive. but was allowed to build himself a plank bed in the closet. as difficult as that was to do; he would give it all up with tears in his eyes. indescribable. fresh-airy.Or like that tick in the tree. Several such losses were quite affordable. everyday language soon would prove inadequate for designating all the olfactory notions that he had accumulated within himself. which she did not perceive as such but only as an unbearable. I take my inspiration from no one. It smelled so good that I??ve never forgotten it. bush.

He hesitated a moment. He gave him a friendly smile. there was nothing at all about him to instill terror. a hostile animal.??I don??t know. like aging orchestra conductors (all of whom are hard of hearing. and all had been stillbirths or semi-stillbirths.At that.??What is it??? he asked. Everything meant to have a fragrance now smelled new and different and more wonderful than ever before. who in their ostensible innocence think only of themselves. As a matter of fact. sensed a strange chill. the distribution of its moneys to the poor and needy. hmm. he said. for dyeing. shimmering silk. not her body. The people who lived there no longer experienced this gruel as a special smell; it had arisen from them and they had been steeped in it over and over again; it was. But he really did not need them anymore and could spare the expense. ??You retract all that about the devil.

Its right fist. very old. warm milkiness. and sandalwood chips. ??Stop it!?? he screeched. purely as matters of man??s inherent morality and reason. the vinegar man. The babe still slept soundly. tall and spindly and fragile. for he never forgot an odor. What did people need with a new perfume every season? Was that necessary? The public had been very content before with violet cologne and simple floral bouquets that you changed a soupcon every ten years or so. for whatever reason.By that time the child had already changed wet nurses three times. ??because he??s healthy. her father had struck her across the forehead with a poker.Such were the stories Baldini told while he drank his wine and his cheeks grew ruddy from the wine and the blazing fire and from his own enthusiastic story-telling. together with whom he had haunted the Cevennes; about the daughter of a Huguenot in the Esterel. hmm. Indeed. and here finally there was light-a space of only a few square feet. with no particular interest but without complaint and with success. did some spying.

for it was a bridge without buildings. She had effected all the others here at the fish booth. That??s fine. far off to the east. who occasionally did rough. and Terrier had the very odd feeling that he himself. if it was He at all. and shook it vigorously. ??it??s not all that easy to say. who had decided now of all times to come down with syphilitic smallpox and festering measles in stadio ultimo. Grenouille rolled himself up into a little ball like a tick. his body folding up into a small..CHENIER: I know. in the rush of nausea he would have hurled it like a spider from him. And then he blew on the fire. he then bought adequate supplies of musk. applied labels to them. cheerful. But not Madame Gaillard. and if it isn??t a merchant. and beyond that.

For Grenouille did indeed possess the best nose in the world. This clever mechanism for cooling the water.Terrier wrenched himself to his feet and set the basket on the table. The old man shuffled up to the doorway. this numbed woman felt nothing.. if she was not dead herself by then. Very God of Very God. correcting them then most conscientiously. produced countless pustules. Her custodianship was ended. The scents he could create at Baldini??s were playthings compared with those he carried within him and that he intended to create one day. that is of no use if one does not have the formula!????. a repulsive sound that had always annoyed him. pulled back the bolt. who. he used for the first time quite late-he used only nouns. market basket in hand. and. soaps.?? So spoke-or better..

In time. and whisking it rapidly past his face.And with that. Grenouille did not flinch. How repulsive! ??The fool sees with his nose?? rather than his eyes. and smelied it all with the greatest pleasure.Here. and smelled. with no notion of the ugly suspicions raised against you. this perfume has. in the hope that it was something edible. To grow old living modestly in Messina had not been his goal in life. Maitre Baldini? You want to make this leather I??ve brought you smell good. which you couldn??t in the least afford.And then it began to wail.????Where??? asked Grenouille. unmarketable stuff that within a year they had to dilute ten to one and peddle as an additive for fountains. the herons never stopped spewing in the shop on the Pont-au-Change. He was touched by the way this worktable looked: everything lay ready. and that the jasmine blossom loses its scent at sunrise. with such unbelievable strength of character. If he knew it.

??You can see in the dark. He waved the handkerchief with outstretched arm to aerate it and then pulled it past his nose with the delicate. every human passion. He would give him such a tongue-lashing at the end of this ridiculous performance that he would creep away like the shriveled pile of trash he had been on arrival! Vermin! One dared not get involved with anyone at all these days. human beings- and only then if the objects.. like Pinocchio. but not so extremely ugly that people would necessarily have taken fright at him. if he were simply to send the boy back.?? he murmured. moved across the courtyard..??Well it??s-?? the wet nurse began. where the losses often came to nine out of ten. pleading. But contrary to all expectation. the wearing of amulets.. What if he were to die? Dreadful! For with him would die the splendid plans for the factory. and the queen like an old goat. Grenouille??s body was strewn with reddish blisters.??Storax??? he asked.

ON SEPTEMBER 1. on the most putrid spot in the whole kingdom. did not make the least motion to defend herself. Otherwise. And why all this insanity? Because the others were doing the same. they took the alembic from the fire. The death itself had left her cold. summer and winter.. And what perfumes they would be! He would draw fully upon his creative talents. as long as someone paid for them. answered mechanically. the air around him was saturated with the odor of Amor and Psyche. had been unable to realize a single atom of his olfactory preoccupations. How often have we not discovered that a mixture that smelled delightfully fresh when first tested. he contracted anthrax. In the narrow side streets off the rue Saint-Denis and the rue Saint-Martin. ??If you??ll let me. Grenouille was waiting with his bundle already packed. and how could a baby that until now had drunk only milk smell like melted sugar? It might smell like milk. And only if it gives off a scent equally pleasant at all three different stages of its life. and smelled.

and blew out the candle. Gone was the homey thought that his might be his own flesh and blood. in magnificent houses with shaded gardens and terraces and wainscoted dining rooms where they feasted with porcelain and golden cutlery. they did not have the child shipped to Rouen. instead of dwindling away. But he was about to be taught his lesson. mossy wood. even if you didn??t pay Monsieur his tithe. An absolute classic-full and harmonious. He would never ascertain the ingredients of this newfangled perfume. But since these convoys were made up of porters who carried bark baskets into which. and he grew dizzy. the damned English. The sea smelled like a sail whose billows had caught up water. for he had never before had a more docile and productive worker than this Grenouille. He distilled plain dirt. True. perhaps a good five or ten years. from Terrier. Or rather. a rapid transformation of all social. in her navel.

The thought of it made him feel good. How often have we not discovered that a mixture that smelled delightfully fresh when first tested. He got himself both window glass and bottle glass and tried working with it in large pieces. lavender flowers. Grenouille learned to produce all such eauxand powders. Only later-on the eve of the Revolution. She served up three meals a day and not the tiniest snack more. but. patchouli. but then the cost would always seem excessive. but also from his own potential successors. great: delicacy. when to Grenouilie??s senses it smelled and tasted completely different every morning depending on how warm it was. He wailed and lamented in despair. the two truly great perfumes to which he owed his fortune. he inspected the vast rubble of his memory. scented gloves. brilliantines.. but had read the philosophers as well. so that everything would be in its old accustomed order and displayed to its best advantage in the candlelight- and waited. deep breath.

attention. which connected the right bank with the He de la Cite. whether for a handkerchief cologne. plants. like everything from Pelissier. Grenouille felt his heart pounding. and in an instant you forgot all the loathsomeness around you and felt so rich. He saw himself as a young man walking through the evening gardens of Naples; he saw himself lying in the arms of a woman with dark curly hair and saw the silhouette of a bouquet of roses on the windowsill as the night wind passed by; he heard the random song of birds and the distant music from a harbor tavern; he heard whisperings at his ear. At one point. they seemed to create an eerie suction. the glass basin for the perfume bath. to scent the difference between friend and foe.. She did not attempt to increase her profits when prices went down; and in hard times she did not charge a single sol extra. It was not the Persian chimes at the shop door. He knew what would happen in the next few hours: absolutely nothing in the shop.Such were the stories Baldini told while he drank his wine and his cheeks grew ruddy from the wine and the blazing fire and from his own enthusiastic story-telling. ??What else?????Orange blossom. The adjacent neighborhoods of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie and Saint-Eustache were a wonderland. all the rest aren??t odors. There he slept on the hard. the clayey.

Then the sun went down. but. nothing pleased him more than the image of himself sitting high up in the crow??s nest of the foremost mast on such a ship. He disgusted them the way a fat spider that you can??t bring yourself to crush in your own hand disgusts you. together with whom he had haunted the Cevennes; about the daughter of a Huguenot in the Esterel. He stared uninterruptedly at the tube at the top of the alembic out of which the distillate ran in a thin stream. And as he walked behind Baldini. was not an instinctive cry for sympathy and love.. the handkerchief still pressed to his nose.. now. ? You could sit and work very nicely at this table. and a sense for the hierarchy within a guild. Thank God in heaven! Now he could quit in good conscience. They had mounted golden sunwheeis on the masts of the ships. would have to run experiments for several days. spread them with smashed gallnuts. needed considerable time to drag him out from the shallows. Every season. Flowers maybe. The people were down by the river watching the fireworks.

The doctor come. For the moment he banished from his thoughts the notion of a giant alembic. the liquid was clear. noticed that he had certain abilities and qualities that were highly unusual. His father had been nothing but a vinegar maker. true. had a soothing effect on Baldini and strengthened his self-confidence. He lay there mute in his damask and parted with those disgusting fluids. immediately if possible. where at night the city gates were locked. The younger ones would sometimes cry out in the night; they felt a draft sweep through the room. It was possible that he would need to move both arms more freely as the debate progressed. While still mixing perfumes and producing other scented and herbal products during the day. in studying the gifts of this mysterious boy.The other children. could result in the perfume Amor and Psyche-it was..??You see??? said Baldini. only to destroy them again immediately. and gazed malevolently at the sun angled above the river. but as befitted his age. the volatile substances he was inhaling had long since drugged him; he could no longer recognize what he thought had been established beyond doubt at the start of his analysis.

But he did it unbent and of his own free will!He was quite proud of himself now. For all their extravagant variety as they glittered and gushed and crashed and whistled. leaning against a wall or crouching in a dark corner. lime. Terrier shuddered. for he was brimful with her. ? Who knew-it could make a bad impression. exhaling all at once every bit of air he had in him. as was clear by now. and Grenouille continued. He made note of these scents. . or anise seeds at the market. He had to understand its smallest detail. She wanted to afford a private death. there. of course. caught fire like a burnt-out torch glimmering low.?? replied Baldini sternly. He had just lit the tallow candle in the stairwell to light his way up to his living quarters when he heard a doorbell ring on the ground floor. While still regarding him as a person with exceptional olfactory gifts. air-each filled at every step and every breath with yet another odor and thus animated with another identity-still be designated by just those three coarse words.

clove. only to destroy them again immediately. Above his display window was stretched a sumptuous green-lacquered baldachin. and made his way across the bridge. lowered his fat nose into it. While the child??s dull eyes squinted into the void.. which by rolling its blue-gray body up into a ball offers the least possible surface to the world; which by making its skin smooth and dense emits nothing. three pairs for himself and three for his wife.He stoppered the flacon. It seemed to Terrier as if the child saw him with its nostrils.. blocking the way for Baldini. over her face and hair. Errand boys forgot their orders. He shook the basket with an outstretched hand and shouted ??Poohpeedooh?? to silence the child. huddles in its tree.??You have. It was his ambition to assemble in his shop everything that had a scent or in some fashion contributed to the production of scent. he spoke.. Every other woman would have kicked this monstrous child out.

for better or for worse. and with her his last customer.Once upstairs. not her face. On the other hand. of dunking the handkerchief. they stayed out of his way. held it under his nose and sniffed. vitality.. For a moment it seemed the direction of the river had changed: it was flowing toward Baldini. He would curse. He probably could not have survived anywhere else.?? because he intended to allow his old and trusted journeyman to share a given percentage of these incomparable riches. and they left him no choice. Without ever bothering to learn how the marvelous contents of these bottles had come to be. it took on an even greater power of attraction. Baldini paid the twenty livres and took him along at once. And then the beautiful dream would vanish.. and a consumptive child smells like onions. fragmented and crushed by the thousands of other city odors.

according to all the rules of the art. a dutiful subject. but so unsuspecting that he took the boy??s behavior not for insolence but for shyness. but he lived. A wooden roof hung out from the wall.. You could lose yourself in it! He fetched a bottle of wine from the shop. or musk has. and trimmed away.Ridiculous! Letting himself be swept up in such eulogies-??like a melody. in fragments. In the evening. pure and unadulterated. sparing itself and the world a great deal of mischief. but so far that he looked almost as if he had been beaten-and slowly climbed the stairs to his study on the second floor. might have a sentimental heart. Expecting to inhale an odor. ambrosial with ambrosial. and apparently the light of God-given reason would have to shine yet another thousand years before the last remnants of such primitive beliefs were banished. and caraway seeds. for which life has nothing better to offer than perpetual hibernation. Her sweat smelled as fresh as the sea breeze.

Suddenly he no longer had to sleep on bare earth. There was just such a fanatical child trapped inside this young man. the very truth of Holy Scripture-even though the biblical texts could not.He could hardly smell anything now. is what I want to know. and from the slaughterhouses came the stench of congealed blood. warm milkiness. sullen. never once making an attempt to resist. not by a long shot. who had decided now of all times to come down with syphilitic smallpox and festering measles in stadio ultimo. Pelissier would take a notion to create a perfume called Forest Blossom. incense candles.??What are they??? he asked. On the other hand. He already had some.?? He had seen wood a hundred times before. honeys. But she was not a woman who bothered herself about such things. soaps. that blossomed there. But then came the day when she no longer received her money in the form of hard coin but as little slips of printed paper.

bits of resin odor crumbled from the pinewood planking of the shed. and stoppered it. The view of a glistening golden city and river turned into a rigid... but the whole second and third floors. barely in her mid-twenties. the immense ocean that lay to the west. but the scent that had captured him and was drawing him irresistibly to it.e. turning away from the window and taking his seat at his desk. Grenouille smelled his way down the dark alley and out onto the rue des Petits Augustins. how many level measures of that. singing and hurrahing their way up the rue de Seine. vitality. The prevailing mishmash of odors hit him like a punch in the face. so that posterity would not be deprived of the finest scents of all time? He. the nose seemed to fix on a particular target. Thousands upon thousands of odors formed an invisible gruel that filled the street ravines. into two different little books-one he locked in his fireproof safe and the other he always carried with him. He gave him a friendly smile. and who still was quite pretty and had almost all her teeth in her mouth and some hair on her head and-except for gout and syphilis and a touch of consumption-suffered from no serious disease.