THE SETTING FOR these debaucheries was-how could it be otherwise-the innermost empire where he had buried the husks of every odor encountered since birth. To enhance the mood, he first conjured1 up those that were earliest and most remote: the hostile, steaming vapors2 of Madame Gaillard’s bedroom; the bone-dry, leathery bouquet3 of her hands; the vinegary breath of Father Terrier; the hysterical4, hot maternal5 sweat of Bussie the wet nurse; the carrion6 stench of the Cimetiere des Innocents; the homicidal odor of his mother. And he wallowed in disgust and loathing8, and his hair stood on end at the delicious horror.
Sometimes, if this repulsive9 aperitif10 did not quite get him into stride, he would allow himself a brief, odoriferous detour11 to Grimal’s for a whiff of the stench of raw, meaty skins and tanning broths12, or he imagined the collective effluvium of six hundred thousand Parisians in the sultry, oppressive heat of late summer.
And then all at once, the pent-up hate would erupt with orgasmic force-that was, after all, the point of the exercise. Like a thunderstorm he rolled across these odors that had dared offend his patrician13 nose. He thrashed at them as hail thrashes a grainfield; like a hurricane, he scattered14 the rabble15 and drowned them in a grand purifying deluge16 of distilled17 water. And how just was his anger. How great his revenge. Ah! What a sublime18 moment! Grenouille, the little man, quivered with excitement, his body writhed19 with voluptuous20 delight and arched so high that he slammed his head against the roof of the tunnel, only to sink back slowly and lie there lolling in satiation. It really was too pleasant, this volcanic21 act that extinguished all obnoxious22 odors, really too pleasant.... This was almost his favorite routine in the whole repertoire23 of his innermost universal theater, for it imparted to him the wonderful sense of righteous exhaustion24 that comes after only truly grand heroic deeds.
Now he could rest awhile in good conscience. He stretched out-to the extent his body fit within the narrow stony25 quarters. Deep inside, however, on the cleanly swept mats of his soul, he stretched out comfortably to the fullest and dozed26 away, letting delicate scents27 play about his nose: a spicy29 gust7, for instance, as if borne here from springtime meadows; a mild May wind wafting30 through the first green leaves of beech31; a sea breeze, with the bitterness of salted almonds. It was late afternoon when he arose- something like late afternoon, for naturally there was no afternoon or forenoon or evening or morning, there was neither light nor darkness, nor were there spring meadows nor green beech leaves... there were no real things at all in Grenouille’s innermost universe, only the odors of things. (Which is why the fafon deparler speaks of that universe as a landscape; an adequate expression, to be sure, but the only possible one, since our language is of no use when it comes to describing the smellable world.) It was, then, late afternoon: that is, a condition and a moment within Grenouille’s soul such as reigns32 over the south when the siesta33 is done and the paralysis34 of midday slowly recedes35 and life’s urge begins again after such constraint36. The heat kindled37 by rage-the enemy of sublime scents-had fled, the pack of demons38 was annihilated39. The fields within him lay soft and burnished40 beneath the lascivious41 peace of his awakening42 -and they waited for the will of their lord to come upon them.
And Grenouille rose up-as noted-and shook the sleep from his limbs. He stood up, the great innermost Grenouille. Like a giant he planted himself, in all his glory and grandeur43, splendid to look upon-damn shame that no one saw him!-and looked about him, proud and majestic44.
Yes! This was his empire! The incomparable Empire of Grenouille! Created and ruled over by him, the incomparable Grenouille, laid waste by him if he so chose and then raised up again, made boundless45 by him and defended with a flaming sword against every intruder. Here there was naught46 but his will, the will of the great, splendid, incomparable Grenouille. And now that the evil stench of the past had been swept away, he desired that his empire be fragrant47. And with mighty48 strides he passed across the fallow fields and sowed fragrance49 of all kinds, wastefully50 here, sparingly there, in plantations51 of endless dimension and in small, intimate parcels, strewing52 seeds by the fistful or tucking them in one by one in selected spots. To the farthermost regions of his empire, Grenouille the Great, the frantic53 gardener, hurried, and soon there was not a cranny left into which he had not thrown a seed of fragrance.
And when he saw that it was good and that the whole earth was saturated54 with his divine Grenouille seeds, then Grenouille the Great let descend55 a shower of rectified56 spirit, soft and steady, and everywhere and overall the seed began to germinate57 and sprout58, bringing forth59 shoots to gladden his heart. On the plantations it rolled in luxurious60 waves, and in the hidden gardens the stems stood full with sap. The blossoms all but exploded from their buds.
Then Grenouille the Great commanded the rain to stop. And it was so. And he sent the gentle sun of his smile upon the land; whereupon, to a bud, the hosts of blossoms unfolded their glory, from one end of his empire unto the other, creating a single rainbowed carpet woven from myriad61 precious capsules of fragrance. And Grenouille the Great saw that it was good, very, very good. And he caused the wind of his breath to blow across the land. And the blossoms, thus caressed62, spilled over with scent28 and intermingled their teeming63 scents into one constantly changing scent that in all its variety was nevertheless merged64 into the odor of universal homage65 to Him, Grenouille the Great, the Incomparable, the Magnificent, who, enthroned upon his gold-scented cloud, sniffed66 his breath back in again, and the sweet savor67 of the sacrifice was pleasing unto him. And he deigned68 to bless his creation several times over, from whom came thanksgiving with songs of praise and rejoicing and yet further outpourings of glorious fragrance. Meanwhile evening was come, and the scents spilled over still and united with the blue of night to form ever more fantastic airs. A veritable gala of scent awaited, with one gigantic burst of fragrant diamond-studded fireworks.
Grenouille the Great, however, had tired a little and yawned and spoke69: “Behold, I have done a great thing, and I am well pleased. But as with all the works once finished, it begins to bore me. I shall withdraw, and to crown this strenuous70 day I shall allow myself yet one more small delectation in the chambers71 of my heart.”
So spoke Grenouille the Great and, while the peasantry of scent danced and celebrated72 beneath him, he glided73 with wide-stretched wings down from his golden clouds, across the nocturnal fields of his soul, and home to his heart.
1 conjured | |
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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2 vapors | |
n.水汽,水蒸气,无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 );自夸者;幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁(症)v.自夸,(使)蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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3 bouquet | |
n.花束,酒香 | |
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4 hysterical | |
adj.情绪异常激动的,歇斯底里般的 | |
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5 maternal | |
adj.母亲的,母亲般的,母系的,母方的 | |
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6 carrion | |
n.腐肉 | |
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7 gust | |
n.阵风,突然一阵(雨、烟等),(感情的)迸发 | |
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8 loathing | |
n.厌恶,憎恨v.憎恨,厌恶( loathe的现在分词);极不喜欢 | |
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9 repulsive | |
adj.排斥的,使人反感的 | |
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10 aperitif | |
n.饭前酒 | |
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11 detour | |
n.绕行的路,迂回路;v.迂回,绕道 | |
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12 broths | |
n.肉汤( broth的名词复数 );厨师多了烧坏汤;人多手杂反坏事;人多添乱 | |
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13 patrician | |
adj.贵族的,显贵的;n.贵族;有教养的人;罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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14 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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15 rabble | |
n.乌合之众,暴民;下等人 | |
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16 deluge | |
n./vt.洪水,暴雨,使泛滥 | |
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17 distilled | |
adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 );从…提取精华 | |
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18 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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19 writhed | |
(因极度痛苦而)扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20 voluptuous | |
adj.肉欲的,骄奢淫逸的 | |
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21 volcanic | |
adj.火山的;象火山的;由火山引起的 | |
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22 obnoxious | |
adj.极恼人的,讨人厌的,可憎的 | |
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23 repertoire | |
n.(准备好演出的)节目,保留剧目;(计算机的)指令表,指令系统, <美>(某个人的)全部技能;清单,指令表 | |
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24 exhaustion | |
n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述 | |
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25 stony | |
adj.石头的,多石头的,冷酷的,无情的 | |
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26 dozed | |
v.打盹儿,打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27 scents | |
n.香水( scent的名词复数 );气味;(动物的)臭迹;(尤指狗的)嗅觉 | |
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28 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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29 spicy | |
adj.加香料的;辛辣的,有风味的 | |
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30 wafting | |
v.吹送,飘送,(使)浮动( waft的现在分词 ) | |
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31 beech | |
n.山毛榉;adj.山毛榉的 | |
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32 reigns | |
n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 );君主统治时期;任期;当政期 | |
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33 siesta | |
n.午睡 | |
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34 paralysis | |
n.麻痹(症);瘫痪(症) | |
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35 recedes | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的第三人称单数 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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36 constraint | |
n.(on)约束,限制;限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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37 kindled | |
(使某物)燃烧,着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 ); 激起(感情等); 发亮,放光 | |
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38 demons | |
n.恶人( demon的名词复数 );恶魔;精力过人的人;邪念 | |
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39 annihilated | |
v.(彻底)消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 );使无效;废止;彻底击溃 | |
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40 burnished | |
adj.抛光的,光亮的v.擦亮(金属等),磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 );被擦亮,磨光 | |
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41 lascivious | |
adj.淫荡的,好色的 | |
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42 awakening | |
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的 | |
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43 grandeur | |
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
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44 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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45 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
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46 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
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47 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
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48 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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49 fragrance | |
n.芬芳,香味,香气 | |
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50 wastefully | |
浪费地,挥霍地,耗费地 | |
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51 plantations | |
n.种植园,大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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52 strewing | |
v.撒在…上( strew的现在分词 );散落于;点缀;撒满 | |
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53 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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54 saturated | |
a.饱和的,充满的 | |
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55 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
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56 rectified | |
[医]矫正的,调整的 | |
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57 germinate | |
v.发芽;发生;发展 | |
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58 sprout | |
n.芽,萌芽;vt.使发芽,摘去芽;vi.长芽,抽条 | |
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59 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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60 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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61 myriad | |
adj.无数的;n.无数,极大数量 | |
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62 caressed | |
爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63 teeming | |
adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 );到处都是;(指水、雨等)暴降;倾注 | |
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64 merged | |
(使)混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 ); 相融; 融入; 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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65 homage | |
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬 | |
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66 sniffed | |
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );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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67 savor | |
vt.品尝,欣赏;n.味道,风味;情趣,趣味 | |
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68 deigned | |
v.屈尊,俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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70 strenuous | |
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的 | |
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71 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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72 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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73 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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