BEFORE HIM stood the flacon with Peiissier’s perfume. Glistening1 golden brown in the sunlight, the liquid was clear, not clouded in the least. It looked totally innocent, like a light tea-and yet contained, in addition to four-fifths alcohol, one-fifth of a mysterious mixture that could set a whole city trembling with excitement. The mixture, moreover, might consist of three or thirty different ingredients, prepared from among countless2 possibilities in very precise proportions to one another. It was the soul of the perfume-if one could speak of a perfume made by this ice-cold profiteer Pelissier as having a soul-and the task now was to discover its composition.
Baldini blew his nose carefully and pulled down the blind at the window, since direct sunlight was harmful to every artificial scent3 or refined concentration of odors. He pulled a fresh white lace handkerchief out of a desk drawer and unfolded it. Then, holding his head far back and pinching his nostrils4 together, he opened the flacon with a gentle turn of the stopper. He did not want, for God’s sake, to get a premature5 olfactory6 sensation directly from the bottle. Perfume must be smelled in its efflorescent, gaseous7 state, never as a concentrate. He sprinkled a few drops onto the handkerchief, waved it in the air to drive off the alcohol, and then held it to his nose. In three short, jerky tugs8, he snatched up the scent as if it were a powder, immediately blew it out again, fanned himself, took another sniff9 in waltz time, and finally drew one long, deep breath, which he then exhaled10 slowly with several pauses, as if letting it slide down a long, gently sloping staircase. He tossed the handkerchief onto his desk and fell back into his armchair.
The perfume was disgustingly good. That miserable11 Pelissier was unfortunately a virtuoso12. A master, to heaven’s shame, even if he had never learned one thing a thousand times overt13 Baldini wished he had created it himself, this Amor and Psyche14. There was nothing common about it. An absolute classic-full and harmonious15. And for all that, fascinatingly new. It was fresh, but not frenetic. It was floral, without being unctuous16. It possessed17 depth, a splendid, abiding18, voluptuous19, rich brown depth-and yet was not in the least excessive or bombastic20.
Baldini stood up almost in reverence21 and held the handkerchief under his nose once again. “Wonderful, wonderful...” he murmured, sniffing22 greedily. “It has a cheerful character, it’s charming, it’s like a melody, puts you in a good mood at once.... What nonsense, a good mood!” And he flung the handkerchief back onto his desk in anger, turned away, and walked to the farthest corner of the room, as if ashamed of his enthusiasm.
Ridiculous! Letting himself be swept up in such eulogies-”like a melody, cheerful, wonderful, good mood.” How idiotic23. Childishly idiotic. A moment’s impression. An old weakness. A matter of temperament24. Most likely his Italian blood. Judge not as long as you’re smelling! That is rule number one, Baldini, you muttonhead! Smell when you’re smelling and judge after you have smelled! Amor and Psyche is not half bad as a perfume. A thoroughly25 successful product. A cleverly managed bit of concocting26. If not to say conjuring27. And you could expect nothing but conjuring from a man like Pelissier. Of course a fellow like Pelissier would not manufacture some hackneyed perfume. The scoundrel conjured28 with complete mastery of his art, confusing your sense of smell with its perfect harmony. In the classical arts of scent, the man was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. In short, he was a monster with talent. And what was worse, a perverter29 of the true faith.
But you, Baldini, are not going to be fooled. You were surprised for a moment by your first impression of this concoction30. But do you know how it will smell an hour from now when its volatile31 ingredients have fled and the central structure emerges? Or how it will smell this evening when all that is still perceptible are the heavy, dark components32 that now lie in odorous twilight33 beneath a veil of flowers? Wait and see, Baldini!
The second rule is: perfume lives in time; it has its youth, its maturity34, and its old age. And only if it gives off a scent equally pleasant at all three different stages of its life, can it be called successful. How often have we not discovered that a mixture that smelled delightfully35 fresh when first tested, after a brief interval36 was more like rotten fruit, and finally reeked37 of nothing but the pure civet we had used too much of. Utmost caution with the civet! One drop too much brings catastrophe38. An old source of error. Who knows- perhaps Pelissier got carried away with the civet. Perhaps by this evening all that’s left of his ambitious Amor and Psyche will be just a whiff of cat piss. We shall see.
We shall smell it. Just as a sharp ax can split a log into tiny splinters, our nose will fragment every detail of this perfume. And then it will be only too apparent that this ostensibly magical scent was created by the most ordinary, familiar methods. We, Baldini, perfumer, shall catch Pelissier, the vinegar man, at his tricks. We shall rip the mask from his ugly face and show the innovator39 just what the old craft is capable of. We’ll scrupulously40 imitate his mixture, his fashionable perfume. It will be born anew in our hands, so perfectly41 copied that the humbug42 himself won’t be able to tell it from his own. No! That’s not enough! We shall improve on it! We’ll show up his mistakes and rinse43 them away, and then rub his nose in it. You’re a bungler44, Pelissier! An old stinker is what you are! An upstart in the craft of perfumery, and nothing more.
And now to work, Baldini! Sharpen your nose and smell without sentimentality! Dissect45 the scent by the rules of the art! You must have the formula by this evening!
And he made a dive for his desk, grabbing paper, ink, and a fresh handkerchief, laid it all out properly, and began his analysis. The procedure was this: to dip the handkerchief in perfume, pass it rapidly under his nose, and extract from the fleeting46 cloud of scent one or another of its ingredients without being significantly distracted by the complex blending of its other parts; then, holding the handkerchief at the end of his outstretched arm, to jot47 down the name of the ingredient he had discovered, and repeat the process at once, letting the handkerchief flit by his nose, snatching at the next fragment of scent, and so on....
收听单词发音 |
1
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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olfactory
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| adj.嗅觉的 | |
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gaseous
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| adj.气体的，气态的 | |
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tugs
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| n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 )；猛拖；拖船v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
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sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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virtuoso
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| n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手 | |
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overt
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| adj.公开的，明显的，公然的 | |
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psyche
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| n.精神；灵魂 | |
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harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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unctuous
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| adj.油腔滑调的，大胆的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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bombastic
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| adj.夸夸其谈的，言过其实的 | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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concocting
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的现在分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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conjuring
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| n.魔术 | |
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conjured
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| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
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perverter
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| 不正当的 | |
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concoction
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| n.调配(物)；谎言 | |
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volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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components
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| （机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分 | |
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33
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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reeked
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的过去式和过去分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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innovator
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| n.改革者；创新者 | |
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40
scrupulously
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| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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rinse
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| v.用清水漂洗，用清水冲洗 | |
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44
Bungler
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| n.笨拙者，经验不够的人 | |
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45
dissect
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| v.分割；解剖 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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47
jot
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| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
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