The Model of a Judge

The story is told from the point of view of a former ruling life form of the planetoid who used to be a carnivore, but who has been psychologically and surgically corrected to be a bipedal vegetarian, and so safe to run loose in human society. He could hear every word. They had no idea how sharp his sense of hearing was, and he had no desire to disconcert them further by letting them know. He could hear every conversation taking place in ordinary tones in the large reception room. When he concentrated he could make out the whispers. At this point he had to concentrate, for Mrs. Claymore leaned over and breathed into her friend's attentive ear. It's superhuman. Before we adopted Professor Halder's suggestion, we gave him a few tests. The results simply left us gasping. We could mix all sorts of spices the most delicate, most exotic herbs from Venus or Mars, and the strongest, coarsest flavors from Earth or one of the plant growing asteroids and he could tell us everything we had added, and exactly how much.