The panther's breath

According to the old books, the breath of the panther is delight:

From its mouth comes a sweet odour, as if it were a mixture of every perfume. Other animals, hearing its voice, follow wherever it goes because of the sweetness of its scent. Only the dragon is seized by fear and flees into the caves beneath the earth.

Under a lead sky in an old library I turned a page and saw what cannot be captured in print or on screen. The panther's breath shimmers in ribbed waves across the gold.