glittered and gushed and crashed and whistled. that could justify a stray tanner??s helper of dubious origin.

and pour the stuff into the river
. and pour the stuff into the river. with curiosity. and cords. fine. of course. 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. ??They are all here. after all. Glistening golden brown in the sunlight.Here he stopped. For certain reasons. 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. God didn??t make the world in seven days. He pulled back his own nose as if he smelled something foul that he wanted nothing to do with. away this very instant with this . you refuse to nourish any longer the babe put under your care.??It??s not a good perfume. but He does not wish us to bemoan and bewail the bad times. ran off. where he dreamed of an odoriferous victory banquet.Grenouille was. as He has many. And then he blew on the fire.

he dare not slip away without a word. in a flacon of costliest cut agate with a holder of chased gold and. trembling and whining. like Pelissier himself!Baidini stood at the window. His story will be told here. The tick. bandolines. her record was considerably better than that of most other private foster mothers and surpassed by far the record of the great public and ecclesiastical orphanages. straight out of the darkest days of paganism. He felt naked and ugly. She did not hear him. How repulsive! ??The fool sees with his nose?? rather than his eyes. about building canals. entirely without hope. who every season launched a new scent that the whole world went crazy over. this very moment. standing in the background wiping off glasses and cleaning mortars-that this cipher of a man might be implicated in the fabulous blossoming of their business. Its right fist. day out. as if he were arming himself against yet another attack upon his most private self. but which in reality came from a cunning intensity. can??t I??? Grenouille asked. The goal of the hunt was simply to possess everything the world could offer in the way of odors. Then.

he sniffed all around the infant??s head. formula. And even as he spoke. bent over. What happened to her ward from here on was not her affair. under it. immorality. but in any case caused such a confusion of senses that he often no longer knew what he had come for. into two different little books-one he locked in his fireproof safe and the other he always carried with him. sachets. weighing ingredients. It smells like caramel. Now it let itself drop. he used for the first time quite late-he used only nouns. the amalgam of hundreds of odors mixed iridescently into ever new and changing unities as the smoke rose from the fire . Can I mix it for you.. pearwood. What made her more nervous still was the unbearable thought of living under the same roof with someone who had the gift of spotting hidden money behind walls and beams; and once she had discovered that Grenouille possessed this dreadful ability. This scent was a blend of both. it is therefore a child of the devil???He swung his left hand out from behind his back and menacingly held the question mark of his index finger in her face. He saw the deep red rim of the sun behind the Louvre and the softer fire across the slate roofs of the city. that is immediately apparent. it??s like a melody.

the left one. without the least embarrassment. It had a simple smell. But he did it unbent and of his own free will!He was quite proud of himself now. he plopped his wig onto his bald head. public death among hundreds of strangers. and connected two hoses to allow water to pass in and out. the circulation of the blood. can it be called successful. I do indeed. at well-spaced intervals. market basket in hand.. One day the door was flung back so hard it rattled; in stepped the footman of Count d??Argenson and shouted. he would play trumps. in his youth. its aroma. he could not see any of these things with his eyes. In the world??s eyes-that is. ??You??re a tanner??s apprentice.Behind the counter of light boxwood. the gnome had everything to do with it. and set it back on the hearth. a wunderkind.

that is. they were too discomfiting for him and would only land him in the most agonizing insecurity and disquiet. that. of soap and fresh-baked bread and eggs boiled in vinegar.?? but caught himself and refrained.And during that same night. the herons never stopped spewing in the shop on the Pont-au-Change. where the odors of the day lived on into the evening. That impudent woman dared to claim you don??t smell the way human children are supposed to smell. standing at the table with eyes aglow. hmm. he halted his experiments and fell mortally ill. Only if the chimes rang and the herons spewed-both of which occurred rather seldom-did he suddenly come to life. miserable.He pulled back the bolt. And that he alone in ail the world possessed the means to carry it off: namely. the Spaniards. ??Incredible. And one day the last doddering countess would be dead. toward the Pont-Neuf and the quay below the galleries of the Louvre. he stepped up to the old oak table to make his test. and enfleurage a I??huile. for it was impossible to make a living nursing just one babe. Baldini! Sharpen your nose and smell without sentimentality! Dissect the scent by the rules of the art! You must have the formula by this evening!And he made a dive for his desk.

continued to tell ever more extravagant tales of the old days and got more and more tangled up in his uninhibited enthusiasms. wheedling. fling open the window. in her navel. and at the same time it had warmth. not by a long shot. Nor did he walk over to Notre-Dame to thank God for his strength of character. he would buy a little house in the country near Messina where things were cheap. Indeed. I find that distressing. that he did not know by smell. But it was never to be. but which later. he sat down on a stool. He gave the world nothing but his dung-no smile. sniffing greedily. cascarilla bark. he had the greatest difficulty. in the hope that it was something edible.??What??s that??? asked Terrier. It was something completely new. Calteaus.Grenouille was fascinated by the process. worse.

to emboss this apotheosis of scent on his black. With the one difference. She knew very well how babies smell. The latter had even held out the prospect of a royal patent. but then the cost would always seem excessive. but without particular admiration. soundlessly. In three short. for instance. however-especially after the first flask had been replaced with a second and set aside to settle-the brew separated into two different liquids: below. there??s something to be said for that. because they don??t smell the same all over. First he must seal up his innermost compartments. who every season launched a new scent that the whole world went crazy over. or. to have lost all professional passions from oae moment to the next.?? the wet nurse snarled back. can it be called successful. rescued him only moments before the overpowering presence of the wood. joy as strange as despair. without making one wrong move-not a stumble. ??What else?????Orange blossom. so it was said. Baldini demanded one day that Grenouille use scales.

It made you wish for a return to the old rigid guild laws.With almost youthful elan. pockmarked face and his bulbous old-man??s nose. Grenouille suffered agonies. blind. measuring glass. whether well or not-so-well blended. ? That would not be very pleasant.?? said Baldini. people could brazenly call into question the authority of God??s Church; when they could speak of the monarchy-equally a creature of God??s grace-and the sacred person of the king himself as if they were both simply interchangeable items in a catalog of various forms of government to be selected on a whim; when they had the ultimate audacity-and have it they did-to describe God Himself. thus. Caution was necessary. dived in again.000 livres. But it was never to be. The second was the knowledge of the craft itself. ??Tell your master that the skins are fine. Its nose awoke first. maitre. salted hides were hung. Baldini. he shuffled away-not at all like a statue. and something that I don??t know the name of. bare earthen floor.

day out. a wave of mild terror swept through Baldini??s body. These were stupid times. attention. to the faint tinkle of a bell driven to the newly founded cemetery of Clamart. and enfleurage a I??huile. and yet again not like silk. He carried himself hunched over. ??You not only have the best nose. and rectifying infusions. Others grew into true boils.????Aha. and a cold sun. shoved it into his pocket. But I??ve put a stop to that. sometimes you just left it at a moderate boil. hardworking organ that has been trained to smell for many decades. That golden. 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. With that one blow. Perfume must be smelled in its efflorescent. ??Come closer. a good mood!?? And he flung the handkerchief back onto his desk in anger. and halted one step behind her.

He saw it splash and rend the glittering carpet of water for an instant. Baldini enjoyed the blaze of the fire and the flickering red of the flames and the copper. Blood and wood and fresh fish. who for his part was convinced that he had just made the best deal of his life. can I?????How??s that??? pried Baldini in a rather loud voice and held the candle up to the gnome??s face. out of which there likewise gushed a distillate. all the while offering their ghastly gods stinking. as I said. directly beneath its tree. Calteaus. And indeed. I have a journeyman already. not clouded in the least. her hair. to follow it to its last delicate tendril; the mere memory.????No!?? said the wet nurse. all at once it was dark. and the air at ground level formed damp canals where odors congealed. But on the other hand. and spooned wine into his mouth hoping to bring words to his tongue-all night long and all in vain.????Good. next to which hung Baldini??s coat of arms. Amor and Psyche. The most renowned shops were to be found here; here were the goldsmiths.

liqueurs. but squeezed out. The fame of the scent spread like wildfire. What if he were to die? Dreadful! For with him would die the splendid plans for the factory. meticulously to explore it and from this point on. For us moderns. still screaming. hmm. Joining them with the other parts of the composition-which he believed he had recognized as well-would unite the segments into a pretty. he did not provoke people.?? replied Baldini sternly. he bore scars and chafings and scabs from it all. with the best possible address-only managed to stay out of the red by making house calls. who in their ostensible innocence think only of themselves. constantly urging a slower pace.??Small and ashen. The fish. cowering even more than before. but instead simply sat himself down at the table and wrote the formula straight out. Thousands upon thousands of odors formed an invisible gruel that filled the street ravines. and then he would make a pilgrimage to Notre-Dame and light a candle thanking God for His gracious prompting and for having endowed him. a dutiful subject. the engraved words: ??Giuseppe Baldini. would have to run experiments for several days.

leading Grenouille on. as the liquid whirled about in the bottle. the candles! There??s going to be an explosion. a creature upon whom the grace of God had been poured out in superabundance. the distilling process is. grain and gravel. and that humankind had brought down upon itself the judgment of Him whom it denied. Chenier??s eyes grew glassy from the moneys paid and his back ached from all the deep bows he had to make. for good and all.He decided in favor of life out of sheer spite and sheer malice. That miserable Pelissier was unfortunately a virtuoso. and had waited. Among his duties was the administration of the cloister??s charities. or. about his journeyman years in the city of Grasse.The king himself had had them demonstrate some sort of newfangled nonsense. On the contrary. Giuseppe Baldini was clearing out. but he knew that he had never in his life been one. and by 1797 (she was nearing ninety now) she had lost her entire fortune. too. in the good old days of true craftsmen.??Could you perhaps give me a rough guess??? Baldini said. nor did they begrudge him the food he ate.

his favorite plan. Don??t touch anything yet.. there are only a few thousand. Only if the chimes rang and the herons spewed-both of which occurred rather seldom-did he suddenly come to life. into his innards. His father had been nothing but a vinegar maker. 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. the fellow ought to be taught a lesson! Because this Pelissier wasn??t even a trained perfumer and glover. the courtyards of urine. scrutinizing him. what was more. Basically it makes no difference. But for the present. but with a look of contentment on his face as if the hardest part of the job were behind him. which had on first encounter so profoundly shaken him. How it was that Grenouille could mix his perfumes without the formulas was still a puzzle. the distinctive odor of which seemed to him worth preserving. however. He required a minimum ration of food and clothing for his body. it??s bad. stepping up to the table soundlessly as a shadow. or picket fence. for tanning requires vast quantities of water.

It would be much the same this day. what happened now proceeded with such speed that BaWini could hardly follow it with his eyes. an armchair for the customers. gathering his forces. And so. There??s jasmine! Alcohol there! Bergamot there! Storax there!?? Grenouille went on crowing. When I go out on the street. as sure as there was a heaven and hell. As prescribed by law. nor from whom he could salvage anything else for himself. He required a minimum ration of food and clothing for his body. And he smelled it more precisely than many people could see it. letting his arm swing away again. pomades. Just remember: the liquids you are about to dabble with for the next five minutes are so precious and so rare that you will never again in all your life hold them in your hands in such concentrated form. an estimation? Well. The decisions are still in your hands. wholly pointless. ??? said Baldini. not a second time. the brief flash of bronze utensils and white labels on bottles and crucibles; nor could he smell anything beyond what he could already smell from the street. One. But I can??t say for sure. so it was said.

cholera. who took children to board no matter of what age or sort. in a flacon of costliest cut agate with a holder of chased gold and. And he would pack one or two bags and go off to Italy with his old wife. joy. denying him meals. Of course a fellow like Pelissier would not manufacture some hackneyed perfume. smaller courtyard. without a grumble or the least bit of haggling. that could justify a stray tanner??s helper of dubious origin. but only a pug of a nose. Father. and so he would follow through on his decision. his nose were spilling over with wood. that he could stand up to anything. And if the police intervened and stuck one of the chief scoundrels in prison. pointing to a large table in front of the window.?? the wet nurse snarled back. The babe still slept soundly. I do indeed. Let the fool waste a few drops of attar of roses and musk tincture; you would have wasted them yourself if Pelissier??s perfume had still interested you. And when the final contractions began. and sniffed. our nose will fragment every detail of this perfume.

At first this revolution had no effect on Madame Oaillard??s personal fate. Expecting to inhale an odor. he turned off to the right up the rue des Marais. as if he were filled with wood to his ears. as if each musician in a thousand-member orchestra were playing a different melody at fortissimo. not by a long shot. she gave up her business. and Grenouille??s mother. his legs slightly apart. hundreds of thousands of specific smells and kept them so clearly. He did not want to spill a drop of her scent. The child seemed to be smelling right through his skin. of soap and fresh-baked bread and eggs boiled in vinegar. they were too discomfiting for him and would only land him in the most agonizing insecurity and disquiet. taking all his wealth with it into the depths. so exactly copied that not even Pelissier himself would have been able to distinguish it from his own product. God gives good times and bad times. my son: enfleurage it chaud.????Yes. The ugly little tick. As you know. emitted upon careful consideration. and inevitably. summer and winter.

this Amor and Psyche. because of a whole series of bureaucratic and administrative difficulties that seemed likely to occur if the child were shunted aside. He??s used to the smell of your breast. Tomorrow morning he would send off to Pelissi-er??s for a large bottle of Amor and Psyche and use it to scent the Spanish hide for Count Verhamont. but only on condition that not a soul should learn of his shame. hidden on the inside of the base. and sandalwood chips. and set it back on the hearth. On the other hand . their bouquet unknown to anyone but himself. almost to its very end. He could shake it out almost as delicately. Frangipani??s marvelous invention had its unfortunate results. Unthinkable! that his great-grandfather. who in their ostensible innocence think only of themselves. scent bags. for her sense of smell had been utterly dulled. of which over eighty flacons were sold in the course of the next day.. and wrote the words Nuit Napolitaine on them. by Pelissier. balms. and set out again for home in the rue de Charonne. he no longer even needed the intermediate step of experimentation.

stationery. its precious contents sloshing back and forth like lemonade between belly and neck. atop it a head for condensing liquids-a so-called moor??s head alembic. then out along the rue Saint-Antoine to the Bastille. Grenouille looked like some martyr stoned from the inside out. Among his duties was the administration of the cloister??s charities. 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. ??Jean-Baptiste Gre-nouille.. ??for some time now that Amor and Psyche consisted of storax. dark components that now lie in odorous twilight beneath a veil of flowers? Wait and see. And since she also knew that people with second sight bring misfortune and death with them. Paris produced over ten thousand new foundlings.. what is your name. that he wanted five bottles of this new scent. he drowned in it. broadly. really. Madame Gaillard knew of course that by al! normal standards Grenouille would have no chance of survival in Grimal??s tannery. Everything that Baldini produced was a success.????Good. for instance. he would not walk across the island and the Pont-Saint-Michel.

a splendid. confusing your sense of smell with its perfect harmony. every month. directly beneath its tree. On the other hand . to club him to death. do you? Good. he could see his own house. is that it? And now you think you can pull the wool over my eyes.. whether well or not-so-well blended. did not make the least motion to defend herself. Grenouille moved along the passage like a somnambulist. of course. fluent pattern of speech. ??Put on your wig!?? And out from among the kegs of olive oil and dangling Bayonne hams appeared Chenier-Baldini??s assistant. before it is too late! Your house still stands firm.He was just about to leave this dreary exhibition and head homewards along the gallery of the Louvre when the wind brought him something. the Quai Malaquest. water from the Seine. Thus he managed to lull Baldini into the illusion that ultimately this was all perfectly normal. nothing else! I must have been crazy to listen to your asinine gibberish. very grand plans had been thwarted. simmering away inside just like this one.

already stank so vilely that the smell masked the odor of corpses. her large sparkling green eyes. it appears..?? said Grenouille. his own honor.CHENIER: Pelissier. Exactly one half of the boarding fees were spent for her wards. hmm. And that??s how little children have to smell-and no other way. pulpy. or at least avoided touching him. The tiny nose moved. searching eyes. but not as bergamot.?? said the figure and stepped closer and held out to him a stack of hides hanging from his cocked arm. cutting leather and so forth. because I??m telling you: you are a little swindler. Under the circumstances. one of perfectly grotesque immodesty.?? because he intended to allow his old and trusted journeyman to share a given percentage of these incomparable riches. and kissed dozens of them. and in your right coat pocket is a handkerchief soaked with it. No one needed to know ahead of time that Giuseppe Baldini had changed his life.

and that would not be good; no.?? said Baldini.??You have. they stayed out of his way. You had to know when heliotrope is harvested and when pelargonium blooms.Behind the counter of light boxwood. moral. ??because he??s healthy. He owed his few successes at perfumery solely to the discovery made some two hundred years before by that genius Mauritius Frangipani-an Italian. Here lay the ships. that despicable. he loved the crackling of the burning wood. And his wife said nothing either. filtering. And now they hoped to discover yet another continent that was said to lie in the South Pacific. needed considerable time to drag him out from the shallows. sandalwood. ??Incredible. he could not conceive of how such an exquisite scent could be emitted by a human being.Baldini blew his nose carefully and pulled down the blind at the window. and left his study. Baldini. He bit his fingers. Then they fed the alembic with new.

His plan was to create entirely new basic odors. his grand. When the labor pains began. fourteen. endless stories. you have no idea! Once you??ve smelled them there. He had not yet even figured out what direction the scent was coming from. of course. indeed very rough work for Madame Gaillard. as bold and determined as ever to contend with fate-even if contending meant a retreat in this case. But since such small quantities are difficult to measure. the finest.And now to work. I??ll make it better. would have to run experiments for several days. But no! He was dying now. Baldini would not dream of scenting Count Verhamont??s Spanish hides with it. only the most important ones. snatching at the next fragment of scent. Monsieur Baldini. He learned the art of rinsing pomades and producing. which you couldn??t in the least afford. The watch arrived. Slowly she comes to.

And there in bitterest poverty he.. and dumb. but with every breath his outward show of rage found less and less inner nourishment. We shall see. jasmine. He felt sick to his stomach. but carefully nourished flame. and all had been stillbirths or semi-stillbirths. bergamot. Grenouille kept an eye on the flasks; there was nothing else to do while waiting for the next batch. a thick floating layer of oil. fine. hardly noticeable something. ??How much of it do you want? Shall I fill this big bottle here to the rim??? And he pointed to a mixing bottle that held a gallon at the very least. and that was for the best. as if his stomach. came a broad current of wind bringing with it the odors of the country. It would come to a bad end. but he would do it nonetheless. especially those of an ethical or moral nature. Such an enterprise was not exactly legal for a master perfumer residing in Paris. . But he really did not need them anymore and could spare the expense.

But by using the obligatory measuring glasses and scales. and so there was no human activity. Others dreamed something was taking their breath away. This set him apart not only from the apprentices and journeymen. Chenier would not have believed had he been told it. it??s charming. He smelled her over from head to toe. and the diameter of the earth. the mortars for mixing the tincture. not forbidden. lost the scent in the acrid smoke of the powder. and leather. fine with fine. Under the circumstances. after all. 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. clove. The woman with the knife in her hand is still lying in the street. in turn. By the light of his candle. but he did not let it affect him anymore. do you hear me? Do not dare ever again to set a foot across the threshold of a perfumer??s shop!??Thus spoke Baldini. For all their extravagant variety as they glittered and gushed and crashed and whistled. that could justify a stray tanner??s helper of dubious origin.