Hungersnot

Kapitel 3

I can't forget it.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Thalie said, removing his finger from under his nose. “Stop talking! If you keep this up…”

Continuing to talk to you at that level is especially difficult for me. I am now certain that, for whatever reason,

You refused to continue feeding the baby Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, whom you entrusted to him, and returned him to his temporary caretaker.

Guardian of the Saint-Méri Abbey. I feel sad, but I probably can't change anything. You're fired.

He picked up the basket and took another deep breath of the warm, woolly milky aroma carried by the wind.

Elder Thalie was a learned man. He had not only studied theology but also read philosophical works, and at the same time...

He also conducted research in botany and chemistry. He placed great emphasis on the power of his critical spirit. Admittedly, he did not resemble a certain...

Some people have gone so far as to doubt the miracles and prophecies of the Bible or the authenticity of the Bible itself, even if, strictly speaking,

Reason alone cannot explain them; in fact, they often directly contradict reason. He would rather not come into contact with them.

He found these questions unpleasant, believing they would only push him into awkward, unsettling, and dangerous situations.

In this situation, people need safety and tranquility precisely to maintain their rationality. However, what he most vehemently opposes is...

These are superstitious practices common to ordinary people: witchcraft, fortune telling, wearing amulets, the gaze of evil spirits, summoning or exorcising ghosts and gods.

Full moon charms and other pagan practices—more than a thousand years after Christianity consolidated its position, these pagan customs...

It's truly sad that these old habits haven't been completely eradicated! The so-called possession and pact with the devil, if carefully examined...

Observations reveal that, in most cases, these are superstitious claims. While the existence of demons themselves must be denied, evil...

The power of the devil is questionable, but Thalie wouldn't go that far; these questions touch upon the foundations of theology.

Drawing conclusions on these issues is the responsibility of other relevant authorities, not the concern of an ordinary monk. Furthermore...

On the one hand, it is very obvious that even a simple-minded person, such as the wet nurse, would insist that she found something...

Even if the devil harasses you, the devil will never intervene! Her belief that she has discovered the devil only proves, more clearly, that...

You won't find any trace of the devil here, because the devil wouldn't be so foolish as to allow the wet nurse Jeanne Bissie to...

E discovered its flaws, and not just with its nose! With its primitive olfactory organ, the most basic of its five senses! (Imitation)

The Buddha's hell smells of sulfur, while heaven smells fragrant and like myrrh! The worst superstitions are those that...

In the darkest, most savage prehistoric era, people lived like wild beasts; they didn't yet possess sharp eyesight.

Unable to distinguish colors, yet believing they could smell blood, they thought they could sniff out friends from enemies.

You can smell friends in man-eating giants, grain-shaped transvestites, and vengeful goddesses; they'll spot the stinking, smoking...

The fire-roasted offerings brought them a cruel god. How horrible! "Fools see with their noses" rather than their eyes. In the primitive...

Before the last remnants of faith are extinguished, perhaps the light of reason bestowed by God will continue to shine for another thousand years.

"Ah, poor baby! Innocent little life! You lie sleeping in your basket, oblivious to the disgust others have for you."

But I knew nothing. That shameless woman dared to presumptuously say that you didn't smell like children should. Yes, I...

What else can we say about this? Duqi Duqi!

He placed the basket on his lap and gently rocked it, stroking the baby's head with his fingers and occasionally saying...

"Duchi Duchi," he believed, was a way to comfort and caress children. "People say you smell like caramel,"

"That's ridiculous, Duchi Duchi!"

After a while, he pulled his finger back, put it under his nose, and smelled it, but all he could smell was the food he had eaten at noon.

Apart from the taste of pickled cabbage, it had no other smell.

He hesitated for a moment, glancing around to see if anyone was watching him. Then he lifted the basket and...

He stuck his big nose inside, just enough to scratch the baby's sparse red hair, right on the baby's head.

He sniffed, hoping to detect a scent. He didn't quite know what a baby's head should smell like.

He was absolutely certain that it wouldn't taste like caramel, because caramel is just syrup, and a plant that has only tasted caramel since birth...

How can a nursing baby taste like syrup? He could have tasted like milk, like his mother's milk. But he doesn't.

There was no smell of milk. He might smell of skin and hair, perhaps a little bit of baby sweat. Terrière sniffed.

He sniffed, hoping to catch the scent of skin and hair, a hint of sweat. But he smelled nothing.

He couldn't smell anything no matter what he tried. He thought, perhaps babies don't have smells; that's probably it.

A baby won't have an odor if kept clean, just like he won't be able to talk, run, or write. These skills...

It only develops with age. Strictly speaking, people only start emitting a fragrance during puberty. The thing is...

This way, and not any other way! "Young men pursue the opposite sex, and young women bloom like pure white daffodils, exuding fragrance."

"...Didn't Horace write that? And the ancient Romans were aware of this too! The aroma of meat is always a kind of human scent."

The scent of the body—a sinful scent. An infant never dreams of the sins of lust, so how could...

It might have a smell? What should it smell like? Duqi Duqi? Not at all!

He placed the basket on his lap and gently rocked it like a swing. The baby remained fast asleep.

His right fist emerged from under the blanket, small and rosy, occasionally brushing against his cheek. Thalie smiled.

Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine. In that instant, his mind raced with thoughts of being the child's father.

He was no longer a monk, but a normal citizen, perhaps a law-abiding craftsman, and had married an old woman.

His mother, a kind and warm-hearted woman who smelled of wool and milk, bore him a son.

He was rocking his son on his lap, this was his own child, Duqi Duqi… Thinking of this, his heart…

It's a pleasant mood. This idea is so reasonable.

A father places his son on his lap and swings him like a swing. Duqi Duqi, this is a picture.

A picture as old as the world itself, and as long as the world exists, it will always be a new and beautiful picture, ah,

That's right! Thalie felt a warmth in his heart, but also a sadness in his mood.

Section 2

Section 2

Then the child woke up. First, his nose started to move. His little nose began to twitch, lifting upwards.

It sniffed. It sucked in air and then exhaled it in bursts, a bit like sneezing. Then it pouted.

Get up, the child opens his eyes. The color of his eyes is not yet stable, somewhere between a muted gray and a creamy white.

It was as if veiled by a newly thick veil, clearly not yet suitable for viewing. Thalie felt that it was completely unsuitable for the eyes.

He was spotted. But the nose was different. The child's listless eyes were always looking sideways, it was hard to say what he was looking at, but he...

His nose seemed to have a fixed, definite target, and Thalie had a very peculiar feeling that this target was him.

That's Thalie himself. The tiny nostrils around the center of the child's face resemble a flower in bloom.

It's bulging. Or more precisely, the tiny nasal organs resemble those small carnivorous plants grown in the King's Botanical Garden.

Cupules. Like those cupules, the tiny nostrils seemed to emit a frighteningly powerful suction. (Thailand)

Rie felt as if the child were looking down his nose at him, as if he were being scrutinized with a sharp, critical gaze.

He saw more clearly than others could with their eyes, as if he wanted to swallow with his nose what emanated from his Thales, yet he could not.

Something that is concealed and irretrievable... That's how it is when a child without smell shamelessly sniffs it!

He wanted to smell him thoroughly! Thalie suddenly felt himself reeking of a foul odor—a mixture of sweat, vinegar, and sauerkraut.

The unclean clothes smelled bad. He felt as if he were naked, ugly, and that someone was curiously looking at him.

Staring at him, a man who never gave up on anything. The child seemed to be smelling through Thalie's skin.

It could smell right into the depths of his heart! The most tender emotions and the most sordid thoughts were all contained within that greedy little nose.

Everything was exposed. Actually, this nose isn't really a nose; it's more like a small bump, a...

It was frequently protruding. Small, throbbing organs, barely perceptible, bulged and trembled. —Thérèse felt a chill run down his spine. He felt nauseous.

He twisted his nose, as if smelling a stench he absolutely didn't want to smell. The feeling of intimacy had passed; now it was about...

The intimate connection of flesh and blood. The sentimental harmony of father, son, and fragrant mother has vanished.

The carefully crafted, comfortable veil of thought he had designed for his child and himself has been torn down: a strange...

A terrifying life lay on his knees; it was a hostile animal, if he weren't...

If he were a prudent, devout, and wise person, he would have thrown the child away as soon as he felt disgust, just like...

It's like throwing away a spider that's landed on you.

Thalie sprang to his feet and placed the basket on the table. He wanted to get it away as quickly as possible.

The sooner the better.

Then the child began to cry out. He squinted, his bright red engorged with desire, emitting a piercing, unpleasant sound.

The sound was so loud it seemed to freeze the blood in his veins. He reached out a hand to shake the basket, calling out, "Duqi Duqi!"

The intention was to quiet the baby, but the baby cried even louder, his face turned blue, and he looked as if he was about to die from his cries.

It exploded.

Get out! Thalie thought, get out now, this… He wanted to say “this devil,” but he tried his best to control himself.

Hold on... Get out of here, you devil, you unbearable child! But where to? In this area...

He knew at least a dozen wet nurses and orphanages, but they were too close to him; it felt like they were pressed against his skin.

This thing needs to be rolled far, far away, so that no one can hear it anymore. People won't wait an hour...

They sent him back; he had to be sent to another parish if possible, preferably across the river, or even better, outside the city walls.

To Santo Antoine on the outskirts of the city, that's it! This crying child must go there, eastward, far away.

On the other side of the Bastille, the city gates are locked at night.

He lifted his priest's robe, grabbed the basket that whistled, and ran through the noisy streets and alleys.