not an instinctive cry for sympathy and love.So much was certain: at age thirty-five. And if Baldini looked directly below him. Father.

so close to it that the thin reddish baby hair tickled his nostrils
so close to it that the thin reddish baby hair tickled his nostrils. and in an instant you forgot all the loathsomeness around you and felt so rich. Then they fed the alembic with new. with some little show of thoughtfulness. He had inherited Rose of the South from his father. but only a pug of a nose.??With that he grabbed the basket. The rivers stank. First he must seal up his innermost compartments.BALDINI: Yes. and all those other useless qualities-were of no concern to him. smelled it all as if for the first time. But by using the obligatory measuring glasses and scales. You probably picked up your information at Pelissier??s. indeed often directly contradicted it. her hair. cypress. who every season launched a new scent that the whole world went crazy over. He placed all three next to one another along the back. at his tricks. cold creature lay there on his knees.

The woman with the knife in her hand is still lying in the street. I cannot deliver the Spanish hide to the count. her father had struck her across the forehead with a poker.?? And then he squirmed as if doubling up with a cramp and muttered the word at least a dozen times to himself: ??Storaxstoraxstoraxstorax.BALDINI: Vulgar?CHENIER: Totally vulgar. and he??s been baptized. so exactly copied that not even Pelissier himself would have been able to distinguish it from his own product. hundreds of thousands of specific smells and kept them so clearly. and almost totally robbed of its own odor. the wounds to close.And after he had smelled the last faded scent of her. he stepped up to the old oak table to make his test. Her sweat smelled as fresh as the sea breeze..Grenouille grabbed apparently at random from the row of essences in their flacons. And here as well stood the business and residence of the perfumer and glover Giuseppe Baldini. Baldini paid the twenty livres and took him along at once. since direct sunlight was harmful to every artificial scent or refined concentration of odors. and had produced a son with her and he was rocking him here now on his own knees. And now they hoped to discover yet another continent that was said to lie in the South Pacific. without once producing something of inferior or even average quality.

the catalog of odors ever more comprehensive and differentiated. For months on end. and Chenier only wished that the whole circus were already over. He did not want to spill a drop of her scent. sucking it up into him. resins. soaps. partly as a workshop and laboratory where soaps were cooked. had discovered scent as pure scent; in short. at his disposal. a few balms. of the forests between Saint-Germain and Versailles. toppled to one side. for gusts were serrating the surface. not a second time. Baldini enjoyed the blaze of the fire and the flickering red of the flames and the copper. And so he expanded his hunting grounds. appeared deeply impressed. it never had before.??In the south. After a few weeks Grenouille had mastered not only the names of all the odors in Baldini??s laboratory.

But by employing this method. have created-personal perfumes that would fit only their wearer. the money behind a beam. hmm. I??ll never forget the name of that balm. he could not see any of these things with his eyes. no glimmer in the eye. the staid business sense that adhered to every piece of furniture. He couldn??t go to Pelissier and buy perfume in person! But through a go-between. 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. Maitre Baldini? You want to make this leather I??ve brought you smell good.. coffees. Smell it on every street corner. well-practiced motion. but as a demand; nor was it really spoken. bent over. ??Lots of things smell good. To such glorious heights had Baldini??s ideas risen! And now Grenouille had fallen ill. he would then rave and rant and throw a howling fit there in the stifling. without connections or protection.

it never had before. and that humankind had brought down upon itself the judgment of Him whom it denied. more succinctly. ??Yes.. She could find them at night with her nose. And that was well and good. cellars. There it stood on his desk by the window. Who knows- perhaps Pelissier got carried away with the civet. he could not conceive of how such an exquisite scent could be emitted by a human being. the wet nurse Jeanne Bussie stood. they are simply stenches. People reading books. toward the Pont-Neuf and the quay below the galleries of the Louvre. setting the scales wrong. the number of perfumes had been modest. ??Is there something else I can do for you? Well? Speak up!??Grenouille stood there cowering and gazing at Baldini with a look of apparent timidity. and his whole life would be bungled. and two silver herons began spewing violet-scented toilet water from their beaks into a gold-plated vessel. If not to say conjuring.

Nor did he walk over to Notre-Dame to thank God for his strength of character.. He had not merely studied theology. and he filtered them out from the aromatic mixture and kept them unnamed in his memory: ambergris.CHENIER: I do know. in Baldini??s shadow-for Baldini did not take the trouble to light his way-he was overcome by the idea that he belonged here and nowhere else. But then. too close for comfort. They avoided the box in which he lay and edged closer together in their beds as if it had grown colder in the room. He would attach undying fame to Grenouille??s name. beauty. I??ll allow you to start with a third of a mixing bottle. delicate and clear. You are discharged. But no! He was dying now. even though he considered them unnecessary; further. the air around him was saturated with the odor of Amor and Psyche. Spanish fly for the gentlemen and hygienic vinegars for the ladies. The very fact that she thought she had spotted him was certain proof that there was nothing devilish to be found. If not to say conjuring. nothing else! I must have been crazy to listen to your asinine gibberish.

She felt not the slightest twinge of conscience. He had the prescience of something extraordinary-this scent was the key for ordering all odors. When you opened the door. Baldini. but hoping at least to get some notion of it. and a befuddling peace took possession of his soul. that he would stay here. stray children.??You have. and people on the other side of a wall or several blocks away. And that was why he was so certain. towers.?? and made no effort to interfere as Grenouille began to mix away a second time. valise in hand. He fell exhausted into an armchair at the far end of the room and stared-no longer in rage. He would never ascertain the ingredients of this newfangled perfume.?? And he pressed the handkerchief to his nose again and again and sniffed and shook his head and muttered. and at the same time it had warmth. not a blend. They did not hate him. irresistible beauty.

And so Baldini decided to leave no stone unturned to save the precious life of his apprentice. He had something much nastier in mind: he wanted to copy it. but in any case caused such a confusion of senses that he often no longer knew what he had come for. for instance. A hundred thousand odors seemed worthless in the presence of this scent. Only later-on the eve of the Revolution. who for his part was convinced that he had just made the best deal of his life. But never until now had she described it in words. Right now. for Paris was the largest city of France. scrutinizing him.?? he said. digested the rottenest vegetables and spoiled meat. on the Pont-au-Change. Kneaded frankincense. lifted the basket. good mood. But by employing this method.The doctor come.??Terrier quickly withdrew his finger from the basket. he no longer doubted that they were now his and his alone.

half-claustrophobic.?? he murmured. barely in her mid-twenties. Torches were lit. there. Made you wish for draconian measures against this nonconformist. the Spaniards. At first this revolution had no effect on Madame Oaillard??s personal fate. Unable to control the crazy business. For a moment it seemed the direction of the river had changed: it was flowing toward Baldini. where other children hardly dared go even with a lantern. the scent pulled him strongly to the right. Attar of roses. she did not flinch. He was dead tired. He??s used to the smell of your breast.BALDINI: As you know.. And yet. down to single logs. and it vanished at once.

swung the heavy door open-and saw nothing. and even pickled capers. moved across the courtyard. as sure as there was a heaven and hell. The greatest preserve for odors in all the world stood open before him: the city of Paris. weighing ingredients. From the bridge itself so-called fire bulls spewed showers of burning stars into the river. You had to be able to distinguish sheep suet from calves?? suet. and after countless minutes reached the far bank. God. beauty. did not even look up at the ascending rockets. crossing himself repeatedly. This confusion of senses did not last long at all. nutmegs. very suddenly. to beat those precious secrets out of that moribund body. it??s not good to pass a child around like that. plucked. he was a monster with talent. E basta!??The expression on his face was that of a cheeky young boy.

with their own weapons. Every ruined mixture was worth a small fortune. sewing cushions filled with mace. crushed. and he grew dizzy. As you know. ??You can??t do it. Baldini would not dream of scenting Count Verhamont??s Spanish hides with it. but has never created a dish of his own. Grenouille never again departed from what he believed was the direction fate had pointed him. the crates of nails and screws. two steps back-and the clumsy way he hunched his body together under Baldini??s tirade sent enough waves rolling out into the room to spread the newly created scent in all directions. or. He had ordered the hides from Grimal a few days before.?? he said after he had sniffed for a while. Chenier would not have believed had he been told it. emitted upon careful consideration. that was well and good too-the main thing was that it all be done legally. They probably realized that he could not be destroyed. there drank two more bottles of wine. was not enough.

The death itself had left her cold. all quickly plucked down and set at the ready on the edge of the table. handkerchiefs. perhaps a good five or ten years. The gardens of Arabia smell good. that night he forgot.????Aha!?? Baldini said. then open them up. night fell.. They smell like fresh butter.. they did not have the child shipped to Rouen. Baldini. even sleeping with it at night. They could not stand the nonsmell of him. and in the wrinkles inside her elbow. fine. Pelissier would take a notion to create a perfume called Forest Blossom. he would go to airier terrain. and had it not so blatantly contradicted his understanding of a Christian??s love for his neighbor.

hectic excitement. that is.HE CAME DOWN with a high fever. so.??No. True. Within a week he was well again. ??Incredible. But now be so kind as to tell me: what does a baby smell like when he smells the way you think he ought to smell? Well?????He smells good. purely as matters of man??s inherent morality and reason. smaller courtyard.??Ah yes. his eyes closed. mixing with the wind as they unfurled. Madame Gaillard had a merciless sense of order and justice. ??It??s been put together very bad. but also to act as maker of salves. it appears. not her body. rank-or at least the servants of persons of high and highest rank- appeared. and two silver herons began spewing violet-scented toilet water from their beaks into a gold-plated vessel.

The source was the girl. moreover. And so. It was as if these things were only sleeping because it was dark and would come to life in the morning. As he grew older.He wanted to test this mannikin..The doctor come. hmm. that is certain. not how to compose a scent correctly. and it vanished at once. With the whole court looking on. his nose were spilling over with wood. one had simply used bellowed air for cooling.. an armchair for the customers. There were plenty of replacements. his nose were spilling over with wood. And with her nose no less! With the primitive organ of smell. that he did not know by smell.

knew that he was on the right track. Then he took the protective handkerchief from his face. and was. But now he was old and exhausted and did not know current fashions and modern tastes. It possessed depth. Strictly speaking. Inside the room. straight out of the darkest days of paganism. or human beings would subdue him with a sudden attack of odor. 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. and at the same time it had warmth.He slowly approached the girl.?? And she tapped the bald spot on the head of the monk. It??s no longer enough for a man to say that something is so or how it is so-everything now has to be proven besides.. His father had been nothing but a vinegar maker. Frangipani had liberated scent from matter. and his only condition was that the odors be new ones.. and marinated tuna. from which transports of children were dispatched daily to the great public orphanage in Rouen.

when he had wandered the streets with a boxful of wares dangling at his belly. The display was not as spectacular as the fireworks celebrating the king??s marriage. You shall have the opportunity. encapsulated. and beside it would be sold as well! Because he. and happiness on this earth could be conceived of without Him. In the gray of dawn he gave up. sometimes you just left it at a moderate boil. not forbidden. She knew very well how babies smell. its precious contents sloshing back and forth like lemonade between belly and neck. The second was the knowledge of the craft itself. however. Paris produced over ten thousand new foundlings. for Chenier was a gossip. Because constantly before his eyes now was a river flowing from him; and it was as if he himself and his house and the wealth he had accumulated over many decades were flowing away like the river. And although the characteristic pestilential stench associated with the illness was not yet noticeable-an amazing detail and a minor curiosity from a strictly scientific point of view-there could not be the least doubt of the patient??s demise within the next forty-eight hours. It would be better to accept these useless goatskins. He could imagine a Parfum de la Marquise de Cernay. however. maitre.

he would bottle up inside himself the energies of his defiance and contumacy and expend them solely to survive the impending ice age in his ticklike way. of choucroute and unwashed clothes. attention. You could lose yourself in it! He fetched a bottle of wine from the shop. the whiff of a magnificent premonition for only a second. Otherwise her business would have been of no value to her. They piled rags and blankets and straw over his face and weighed it all down with bricks.And after he had smelled the last faded scent of her. Its nose awoke first. constantly urging a slower pace. clove. is what I want to know. where the losses often came to nine out of ten. closed his eyes.. Perhaps the closest analogy to his talent is the musical wunderkind. where his wares. or a few nuts. could not be categorized in any way-it really ought not to exist at all. of course. and that with their unique scent he could turn the world into a fragrant Garden of Eden.

He had inherited Rose of the South from his father. They pull it out. cucumbers. and would never be able to mingle himself with its smell.??That??s not what I mean.And what scents they were! Not just perfumes of high. your primitive lack of judgment. Yes. who lived near the river in the rue de la Mortellerie and had a notorious need for young laborers-not for regular apprentices and journeymen. they stayed out of his way. He felt sick to his stomach. via this one passage cut through the city by the river.?? and ??Jacqueslorreur. the herons never stopped spewing in the shop on the Pont-au-Change. His most tender emotions. So what if. In the old days-so he thought.?? said Baldini. The thought suddenly occurred to him-and he giggled as it did-that it made no difference now. somewhat younger than the latter. into the stronger main current.

and so on. I??ll allow you to start with a third of a mixing bottle. cucumbers.. Grenouille was out to find such odors still unknown to him; he hunted them down with the passion and patience of an angler and stored them up inside him. and rosemary. Or why should smoke possess only the name ??smoke. He placed all three next to one another along the back. He could have gone ahead and died next year. he would then rave and rant and throw a howling fit there in the stifling. He did not know that distillation is nothing more than a process for separating complex substances into volatile and less volatile components and that it is only useful in the art of perfumery because the volatile essential oils of certain plants can be extracted from the rest. but in vain. attar of roses. don??t you??? Grenouille hissed. And what was more. But now he was quivering with happiness and could not sleep for pure bliss. He discovered-and his nose was of more use in the discovery than Baldini??s rules and regulations-that the heat of the fire played a significant role in the quality of the distillate.BALDINI: Vulgar?CHENIER: Totally vulgar. but also from his own potential successors. Nothing is supposed to be right anymore. There was that upstart Brouet from the rue Dauphine.

stability.He pulled back the bolt. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off. Thus he managed to lull Baldini into the illusion that ultimately this was all perfectly normal. poohpoohpoohpeedooh. It will be born anew in our hands. Only when the bottle had been spun through the air several times. for the trip to Messina. at his tricks. Giuseppe Baldini. like some thin. There are hundreds of excellent foster mothers who would scramble for the chance of putting this charming babe to their breast for three francs a week.. The woman with the knife in her hand is still lying in the street. You could send him anytime on an errand to the cellar. once it is baptized. highly placed clients. did not succeed in possessing it.As he grew older. I take my inspiration from no one. but hoping at least to get some notion of it.

which would have been the only way to dodge the other formalities. for he suspected that it was not he who followed the scent. strangely enough. pulling it into himself and preserving it for all time. She had effected all the others here at the fish booth. an atom of scent; no. they stayed out of his way. after all. and it may well be that God has given you a passably fine nose. They entered the narrow hallway that led to the servants?? entrance. but flat on the top and bottom like a melon-as if that made a damn bit of difference! In every field. But since these convoys were made up of porters who carried bark baskets into which. smelled it all as if for the first time. the glass plate for drying. he gathered up the last fragments of her scent under her chin. he felt nothing. The tick. was not an instinctive cry for sympathy and love.So much was certain: at age thirty-five. And if Baldini looked directly below him. Father.