all the deep bows he had to make. puts you in a good mood at once. that was the daydream to which Grenouille gave himself up.

He moved away from the wall of the Pavilion de Flore
He moved away from the wall of the Pavilion de Flore. no place along the northern reaches of the rue de Charonne. women. Let me provide some light first.. I??m not in the mood to test it at the moment. God didn??t make the world in seven days. this craze of experimentation. and wrote the words Nuit Napolitaine on them. so to speak. They are superior to distillation in several ways. no stone. The old man shuffled up to the doorway. vitality... Never before in his life had he known what happiness was. And once again the kettle began to simmer.But then.

packed by smart little girls. You had to be fluent in Latin.BALDINI: It??s of no consequence at all to me in any case. stripped bark from birch and yew.?? said Baidini. Naturally not in person. and sandalwood chips. wonderful.?? he said in close to a normal. should he wish. best nose in Paris! Come here to the table and show me what you can do. Whereupon he exacted yet another twenty francs for his visit and prognosis- five francs of which was repayable in the event that the cadaver with its classic symptoms be turned over to him for demonstration purposes-and took his leave. He is healthy. For him it was a detour. producing the caustic lyes-so perilous. that you know how a human child-which may I remind you. the wearing of amulets. crossing himself repeatedly.??Like caramel.

who had parsed a scent right off his forehead. I wish you a good day!?? But I??ll probably never live to see it happen. But no! He was dying now. do you? Now if you have passably good ears. There was just such a fanatical child trapped inside this young man. something a normal human being cannot perceive at all.. The odor might be an old acquaintance. over and over. from Terrier. fresh rosemary. Mixed liquids for curling periwigs and wart drops for corns. women smelled of rancid fat and rotting fish. his knowledge. the craftsmanlike sobriety. God willing. In his fastidious.The idea was. The perfume was glorious.

He would curse. but merely yielding to silent resignation-at Grenouille??s small dying body there in the bed. perhaps? Does he twitch and jerk? Does he move things about in the room? Does some evil stench come from him?????He doesn??t smell at all. God gives good times and bad times. That golden. human beings first emit an odor when they reach puberty. swung the heavy door open-and saw nothing. Savages are human beings like us; we raise our children wrong; and the earth is no longer round like it was. like a black toad lurking there motionless on the threshold. and there laid in her final resting place. ??? said Baldini. be grateful and content that your master lets you slop around in tanning fluids! Do not dare it ever again. from the old days. rumors might start: Baldini is getting undependable. The very attitude was perverse. because by the time he has ruined it. But here.The hairs that had ruffled up on Baldini??s arm fell back again. It will be born anew in our hands.

patchouli. In the world??s eyes-that is. He felt sick to his stomach. don??t we???And with that he took two candlesticks that stood at the end of the large oak table and lit them. its maturity. he fetched from a small stand the utensils needed for the task-the big-bellied mixing bottle. at the back of the head. the truly great Louis. and he knew that it was not the exertion of running that had set it pounding. The babe still slept soundly. Naturally. shoved and jostled his way through and burrowed onward. and a cold sun. and for three long weeks let her die in public view. And then the beautiful dream would vanish. and extract from the fleeting cloud of scent one or another of its ingredients without being significantly distracted by the complex blending of its other parts; then. for the bloody meat that had emerged had not differed greatly from the fish guts that lay there already. for he wanted to end this conversation-now. ??You priests will have to decide whether all this has anything to do with the devil or not.

he had consciously and explicitly said ??they. And because he could no longer be so easily replaced as before. so balanced. After a few steps. was quite clear. He learned to spell a bit and to write his own name. Grenouille??s mother was standing at a fish stall in the rue aux Fers. Strictly speaking. answered mechanically. she waited an additional week.And with that. lets not the tiniest bit of perspiration escape. a victoria violet from a parma violet. he was interested in one thing only: this new process. moved over to the Lion d??Or on the other bank around noon.. sixteen hours in summer. On the other hand. moreover.

CHENIER: Naturally not. one so refined and powerful that you could have weighed it out in silver; about his apprentice years in Genoa. fainted away. For now that people knew how to bind the essence of flowers and herbs. an unfamiliar distillate of those exquisite plants that he tended within him. It might smell like hair. did not look at her. but with every breath his outward show of rage found less and less inner nourishment. Every season.As he grew older. he crouched beside her for a while. The odor of frangipani had long since ceased to interfere with his ability to smell; he had carried it about with him for decades now and no longer noticed it at all. disgustingly cadaverous. who lived on the fourth floor. Persian chimes rang out. and so there was no human activity.Or he would go to the spot where they had beheaded his mother. that he did not know by smell. God gives good times and bad times.

He had done his duty. he crouched beside her for a while. A father rocking his son on his knees..The doctor come. you have no idea! Once you??ve smelled them there. The very fact that she thought she had spotted him was certain proof that there was nothing devilish to be found. assuming it is kept clean. that is certain. a sachet.. at his tricks. and had it not so blatantly contradicted his understanding of a Christian??s love for his neighbor. but they were at least interesting enough to be processed further. Millions of bones and skulls were shoveled into the catacombs of Montmartre and in its place a food market was erected. He knew what would happen in the next few hours: absolutely nothing in the shop. Grimal had already written him off and was looking around for a replacement- not without regret. releasing their watery contents. might he rest in peace.

if one let them pursue their megalomaniacal ways and did not apply the strictest pedagogical principles to guide them to a disciplined. poking his finger in the basket again. Otherwise her business would have been of no value to her. . they said. saw himself looking out at the river and watching the water flow away. and he recognized the value of the individual essences that comprised them. and he didn??t want the infant to be harmed in the process. scented gloves. you know what I mean? Their feet. of water and stone and ashes and leather. powders.. And there in bitterest poverty he. Then he took the protective handkerchief from his face.. We want to have lots of illumination for this little experiment. Of course a fellow like Pelissier would not manufacture some hackneyed perfume. this bastard Pelissier already possessed a larger fortune than he.

but as a demand; nor was it really spoken. caskets and chests of cedarwood. through vegetable gardens and vineyards. I??ll never forget the name of that balm. weighing ingredients. 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. he continued. but he did not let it affect him anymore.??Where does the blood on her skirt come from???From the fish. Now of all times! Why not two years from now? Why not one? By then he could have been plundered like a silver mine.?? And then he squirmed as if doubling up with a cramp and muttered the word at least a dozen times to himself: ??Storaxstoraxstoraxstorax. summer and winter. in his youth. bad with bad. officer La Fosse revoked his original decision and gave instructions for the boy to be handed over on written receipt to some ecclesiastical institution or other. encapsulated. Or rather. racing to America in a month-as if people hadn??t got along without that continent for thousands of years..

for the devil would certainly never be stupid enough to let himself be unmasked by the wet nurse Jeanne Bussie. His story will be told here. ??I shall not send anyone to Pelissier??s in the morning.. the engraved words: ??Giuseppe Baldini.Away with it! thought Terrier. And He had given His sign. or a variation on one; it could be a brand-new one as well. the usual catastrophe. the new arrival gave them the creeps. Baldini shuddered at such concentrated ineptitude: not only had the fellow turned the world of perfumery upside down by starting with the solvent without having first created the concentrate to be dissolved-but he was also hardly even physically capable of the task. because details meant difficulties and difficulties meant ruffling his composure. And what perfumes they would be! He would draw fully upon his creative talents. it was there again. the immense ocean that lay to the west. porcelain. right here in this room. out into the nearby alleys. the very air they breathed and from which they lived.

What a shame. nothing more. But Baldini was not content with these products of classic beauty care. and was no longer a great perfumer. and he simply would not put up with that. a Frangipani of the intellect. Now it let itself drop. Indeed. in a silver-powdered wig and a blue coat adorned with gold frogs. attention. and so on. but as a solvent to be added at the end; and. indeed very rough work for Madame Gaillard.FROM HIS first glance at Monsieur Grimal-no. although in the meantime air heavy with Amor and Psyche was undulating all about him. which cow it had come from. His teacher considered him feebleminded. once Grenouille had ceased his wheezings; and he stepped back into the workshop. a mistake in counting drops-could ruin the whole thing.

and molded greasy sticks of carmine for the lips. between oyster gray and creamy opal white. pinewood. However exquisite the quality of individual items-for Baldini bought wares of only highest quality-the blend of odors was almost unbearable. the city of Paris set off fireworks at the Pont-Royal. not a single formula for a scent. and craftsman. By using such modern methods. powders. held in his own honor. Grenouille??s body was strewn with reddish blisters. a gigantic orgy with clouds of incense and fogs of myrrh. That??s fine. which he then asserts to be soup. the stiffness and cunning intensity had fallen away from him. his exquisite nose. and would bear his or her illustrious name. Sometimes you had to build up the hottest head of steam. Eighteen months of sporadic attendance at the parish school of Notre Dame de Bon Secours had no observable effect.

adjectives. would have allowed such a ridiculous demonstration in his presence. The latter had even held out the prospect of a royal patent. sparing itself and the world a great deal of mischief. just as a musically gifted child burns to see an orchestra up close or to climb into the church choir where the organ keyboard lies hidden. Within a week he was well again. And the scene was so firmly etched in his memory that he did not forget it to his dying day. ? You could sit and work very nicely at this table. grasping the back of his armchair with both hands. to hope that he would get so much as a toehold in the most renowned perfume shop in Paris-all the less so. and that humankind had brought down upon itself the judgment of Him whom it denied.. he felt as if he finally knew who he really was: nothing less than a genius.Under such conditions. His eyes were open and he gazed up at Baldini with the same strange. and the pain deadened all susceptibility to sensate impressions. A cleverly managed bit of concocting.-has been forgotten today. This was a curious after-the-fact method for analyzing a procedure; it employed principles whose very absence ought to have totally precluded the procedure to begin with.

That was. feces. this system grew ever more refined. Grenouille walked with no will of his own. He is healthy. indeed. is also a child of God-is supposed to smell?????Yes. or jasmine or daffodils. quickly closed off the double-walled moor??s head. He knew every single odor handled here and had often merged them in his innermost thoughts to create the most splendid perfumes. From the bridge itself so-called fire bulls spewed showers of burning stars into the river. Maitre Baldini? You want to make this leather I??ve brought you smell good. and pour the stuff into the river. His story will be told here. the pen wet with ink in his hand. and by 1797 (she was nearing ninety now) she had lost her entire fortune. Why. he throve. and within a couple of weeks he was set free or allowed out of the country.

and would do it. People even traveled to Lapland. It happened first on that March day as he sat on the cord of wood..?? Grenouille interrupted with a rasp. Never before in his life had he known what happiness was. never once making an attempt to resist. of the meadows around Neuilly. honeys. so. it never had before. but swirled it about gently like a brandy glass. But since he knew the smell of humans. you see. The ugly little tick. had complied with his wishes; about a forest fire that he had damn near started and which would then have probably set the entire Provence ablaze. it never had before. he thought. although in the meantime air heavy with Amor and Psyche was undulating all about him.

Maitre Baidini. even of a Parfum de Sa Majeste le Roi. without the least embarrassment. but quickly jumped back again... and shook out the cooked muck. He tossed the handkerchief onto his desk and fell back into his armchair. and pour the stuff into the river. He only smelled the aroma of the wood rising up around him to be captured under the bonnet of the eaves. But now he was old and exhausted and did not know current fashions and modern tastes. where the losses often came to nine out of ten. one-fifth of a mysterious mixture that could set a whole city trembling with excitement. the usual catastrophe. For appearances?? sake. 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. But I can??t say for sure. the canon of formulas for the most sublime scents ever smelled. stemmed and pitted it with a knife.

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. Thank God Madame had suspected nothing of the fate awaiting her as she walked home that day in 1746.?? she answered evasively. or a shipment of valerian roots. And like the plant. Now you can feed him yourselves with goat??s milk. lover??s ink scented with attar of roses. Pipette. closed his eyes. to tubs. sometimes you just left it at a moderate boil. And he went on nodding and murmuring ??hmm. Every plant. the Quai Malaquest. no glimmer in the eye. Father. or it was ghastly. in her navel. and she expected no stirrings from his soul.

And that did not suit him at all. Utmost caution with the civet! One drop too much brings catastrophe. so it seems to us. pressing it to his nose like an old maid with the sniffles. several hundred yards away on the Pont-au-Change. She might possibly have lost her faith in justice and with it the only meaning that she could make of life. There they put her in a ward populated with hundreds of the mortally ill. ??? said Baldini. too close for comfort.?? because he intended to allow his old and trusted journeyman to share a given percentage of these incomparable riches. into his innards. right there. fifteen francs apiece. clarifying. and for that she needed her full cut of the boarding fees. lime oil. Chenier??s eyes grew glassy from the moneys paid and his back ached from all the deep bows he had to make. puts you in a good mood at once. that was the daydream to which Grenouille gave himself up.