Title: The Alchemist Author: Paulo Coelho

"To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation." - from The Alchemist
"This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepard boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried near the Pyramids.  Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest.  No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way.  But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of a treasure found within.  Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts."

Santiago, a young Spanish boy, sat in an abandoned church at dusk. A sycamore tree grew right out from the center of the sacristy, up through the roof into the open sky above. Santiago was a thoughtful boy, a shepard, and used books for pillows. He loved his sheep, talked to them, and took care to name each one. Santiago had been studying to be a priest, but he knew it was not his passion. He had summoned the courage to tell his father that he’d rather travel, see things, meet people, experience life.

“It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting,” the boy stated.

So he followed his desire of becoming a shepard. That desire led him to that church, where he'd recently had a reoccurring dream. In the dream there had been a child telling him to go to Pyramids of Egypt to find a treasure. This intrigued the boy and caused him to seek out a gypsy palm reader. She would interpret the dream, but her price was one-tenth of the treasure he would find. The boy agreed. The old gypsy woman said the dream was telling the boy to travel to Egypt where he would find a treasure. The boy laughed. He couldn't believe the simplicity of the interpretation. He didn't need her to tell him that. Glad he didn't have to pay any money he left the shop. On his way to the plaza he ran into an old man who insisted on chatting with him. This man claimed to be the King of Salem and inquired after the boy's sheep. He too bargained one-tenth, but of the sheep, in exchange for helping the boy find his treasure. He tells the boy he has succeeded in finding his Personal Legend.

“[A Personal Legend is] what you've always wanted to accomplish,” the old king explained. “Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is... but as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend.” He goes on to suggest, “this mysterious force appears to be negative, but actually shows you how to realize your Personal Legend... To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation. And when you want something, all the universe conspires to helping you to achieve it... People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”

The King reminded the boy of the proposed deal. One-tenth of his flock for information regarding his treasure. The boy knew it'd be easier to keep the sheep and keep being a shepard. But the dream and the gypsy woman's interpretation had him curious. But being a shepard was the life he knew best. It was comfortable. 'He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have.' In the end the boy decided to pursue the treasure of his Personal Legend and go to Egypt to see the Pyramids. He gave the sheep to the king and sold the rest to one of his friends, who, coincidentally enough, had always wanted to be a shepard. In exchange, the king explained about omens which are signs, usually from the natural environment, that would prove the boy was on the right path. The king also said that giving up the sheep had helped the boy make a decision. He told the boy to follow the omens and later that afternoon the boy purchased a ticket to Africa in pursuit of his Personal Legend.

His initial excitement turned to awe as he found himself, not two hours from his home and suddenly 'a stranger in a strange land.' He was relieved to find a boy his own age who happened to speak Spanish. This guide promised to get the boy to Egypt in two days but instead promptly stole everything the boy had. Left with nothing, the boy was upset and considered quitting. He thought it must be a bad omen.

“I'm like everyone else – I see the world in terms of what I would like to happen, not what actually does,” he thought bitterly.

'He realized that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief [or] as an adventurer in quest of his treasure... He had not a cent in his pocket, but he had faith.' With this faith the boy began to recognize a common language, one without words; a language of the world. It was a language he and his sheep had used to travel the Spanish plains. A language that showed them where food and water was to keep them alive. But with no money and nowhere to go, the boy had no choice but to find work. He managed to haggle a job with an old crystal merchant. He wanted to make enough money to go home. He was discouraged further from his Personal Legend when the merchant disdainfully dismissed the Pyramids as nothing more than a pile of rocks you could build in a backyard. The old merchant also spoke about the thousands of kilometers of desert sand stood between the boy and his treasure. Disheartened, the boy resolved to give up on his Personal Legend.

The merchant revealed his own dream to the boy; a dream of traveling to Mecca, and how the dream had become his only reason to live. He admitted that he was afraid, afraid to leave, afraid that if he realized his dream he'd have nothing else to live for. He was convinced that going there could never be as perfect as it was in his dream. The old merchant was afraid to be disappointed by his dream. So he stayed home.

Working for the merchant provided the boy enough money to not only return home, but to return home and double his flock He remembered the old king's advice, “you must always know what you want.” The boy worked hard because he had something to work towards. He offered tips and suggestions to the merchant and business increased. One suggestion of serving tea to the customers in the crystal they were selling forced the merchant to think about his business as a lifestyle in a whole new way. It made him question himself.

“I don't want to change anything because I don't know how to deal with change. I'm used to the way I am...” he tells the boy. “But,” he continues, “every blessing ignored becomes a cures.” The merchant felt guilty. “Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don't want to do so.”

'They were conversing in Arabic, and the boy was proud of himself... There had been a time when he thought that his sheep could teach him everything he needed to know... but they could never have taught him Arabic.' In the end the merchant listened to the boy's suggestions and business expanded even further.

The boy had been planning for almost two years to return home as a wealthier shepard. Again the old kings advice returned to echo in his ears, “never stop dreaming... follow the omens.” The boy thought about his sheep and his time as a shepard. He knew that although his sheep couldn't have taught him Arabic, they did teach him 'that there was a [universal] language in the world that everyone understood... It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as a part of a search for something believed in and desired.'

“When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it,” the old king had said.

But the boys head was crowded with thoughts of his old life, the one he was comfortable with. Hadn't the merchant told him that the Pyramids were just an old pile of rocks anyway? So he left knowing what he'd miss, but confident in his new skills. He thought that he could conquer anything. Which, ironically, made him unhappy with his decision to go back to his sheep. He wondered if it wasn't easier to dream like the old merchant had. But the boy knew that although he could go back to his sheep at anytime he may never get another chance to see the Pyramids. He was only two hours from home and decided instead to think of it as two hours closer to his treasure. He knew why he wanted to go back to his sheep. He was afraid of the unknown desert but admitted that it was only unknown because he hadn't been there yet. In the end he decided to risk it and follow his dream. He was tremendously happier for it. Until he quickly realized that 'making a decision was only the beginning of things.'

“When someone makes a decision [they're] really diving into a strong current that will carry [them] to places [they] had never dreamed of,” the boy reflects.

He was waiting for a caravan to take him into the desert. While he waited he met an Englishman who was going into the desert to find a legendary alchemist. He wanted this alchemist to help him with his own interest and study of alchemy. The two travelers begin to chat. The boy is reaffirmed in his knowledge of the old king and recognized meeting the Englishman as a lucky omen. That and the fact that the caravan was leaving that particular day was also a good omen to the boy. 'There were almost 200 people and 400 animals – camels, horses, mules and fowl... women, children... men with swords at their belts and rifles slung on their shoulders.' As they set out, and the caravan silently progressed through the hot winds, sand and endless horizon, the boy thought back and began 'to understand that intuition was really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it's all written there.' The boy also noted the dedication in which the caravan had in reaching it's goal destination. 'No matter how many detours and adjustments... the caravan moved toward the same... point.' That, of course, is made easier by the specific goal. They had an exact direction, they knew exactly where they were headed. Knowing precisely where 'there' is provided steady motivation to push onwards into the unknown desert the boy had once been so afraid of.

He overheard a camel driver say, “people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want.”

The boy and the Englishman talked about that common connection; between each of them, between them and the earth, between the caravan and the desert. They realized that they were each talking about the same thing even though they had come to know it through different ways. It was a universal lesson. They vowed to study each others' points of view, the boy by reading the Englishman's books and the Englishman by watching and observing life. While reading, the boy realized that alchemy, as the Englishman was pursuing it, was telling the exact same story as the boy had seen from watching and observing life. The Englishman was irritated and accused the boy of oversimplifying everything. The boy continued to believe that it was the Englishman who was in fact over-complicating things. The Englishman thought the 'boy too primitive to understand.' However, boy learned that 'everyone had [their] own way of learning.' He understood that they were both in search of their own distinct Personal Legend in spite of not learning the same way. Ultimately they got little from the others way of experiencing life and returned to what is familiar to them.

During all this there was war in the desert where the caravan was traveling. The boy noticed that the camel driver seemed unaffected when so many were terribly afraid.

“I'm alive,” the camel driver responded. “When I'm eating, that's all I think about. If I'm on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other,” he explained. “If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be happy.”

The boy tried to remember those words and tried to apply the concept to his own life.

As they reached the oasis they boy was in awe at the enormity of what he saw. There were fifty thousand palm trees scattered with brightly coloured tents. The oasis was a refuge from the tribal wars and the people in the caravan were to remain at the oasis until the wars were over. The desert was no longer safe. The boy, eager to continue, got discouraged again. It seemed that his Personal Legend was more difficult than he had hoped. He knew he had to be patient, that the omens would continue to come. He remembered the words of the camel driver. “Eat when it's time to eat. And move along when it's time to move along.”

The Englishman persuaded the boy to help him find the famed alchemist. They were forced to ask for directions, but no one seemed helpful. The Englishman was frustrated, and that made the boy sad. His friend was on his Personal Legend and the old king said that 'the entire universe made an effort to help [them] succeed.' The boy wondered when the universe would step in for them. Finally they met a young woman at a well. She smiled at Santiago and he knew without a doubt that he had been waiting for that smile his whole life. It was an omen. He found himself in love and her name was Fatima. She told them where to find the alchemist they were looking for. They thanked her and left. However, the boy returned to the well at the same time each day to talk with her and be with her. He told her about omens and his Personal Legend. She encouraged him to continue to pursuit his treasure.

“If I am really a part of your dream, you'll come back one day,” she promised him.

The boy was so happy he went to tell the Englishman. He found him at his tent in front of a strange furnace.

His eyes were bright as he told the boy, “I'm beginning what I could have started ten years ago. But I'm happy I didn't wait twenty years.”

The boy then took his own thoughts out into the desert. He contemplated love, the universe, Personal Legends, the ancient desert, and omens, when he got a vision of an army invading the oasis. The boy tried to forget what he saw, but knew he had to share the vision. The old king told him to 'always heed the omens' and this one he couldn't ignore. He went to find his friend, the camel driver, because the boy knew he'd understand. The camel driver advised the boy to talk with the oasis chieftains. When he does they question him to find out if what he saw was true. Finally, after much deliberation, they agreed to listen to the warning. They ordered to prepare the oasis for attack. They added that if the vision was wrong, they'd kill the boy instead, for making them break Tradition. Oases were to remain a refuge, neutral grounds, unarmed. The claim of attack went against the unwritten rules in the Tradition. If the attack did not come, they would have broken Tradition for nothing. The boy was frightened of such a risk, but happy to die in attempting to protect Fatima and her home.

As it turns out his life was spared, the vision had come true. The oasis was attacked by tribesmen on a seemingly peaceful expedition. Luckily, the oasis had been armed and prepared. The chieftains praised the boy for bringing them the omen and saving the oasis. They ask him to be the Counselor; a great honor. It was after this that the alchemist finally contacted the boy by challenging his motives. Luckily the boy was honest about following his Personal Legend, the alchemist seemed to know exactly what the boy was saying. The boy tried to tell the alchemist about the Englishman, who had set out across the desert to meet with him, but the alchemist insisted that the wind told him that it was Santiago, the boy, who had been coming.

“When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person realize his dream,” the alchemist echoed the words of the old king.

The boy told the alchemist about the treasure he had already found. He had Fatima and not only that, he had money and camels. The alchemist pointed out that none of that had been found at the Pyramids. The alchemist poured them both some wine. It helped the boy relax.

“Isn't wine prohibited here?” he asked.

“It is not what enters men's mouths that's evil,” said the alchemist, “it's what comes out of their mouths that is.”

The next night the alchemist tested the boy again, this time his challenge was to for the boy to find life in the desert. With only the light of the moon to guide him the boy admitted that there was certainly life in the desert, but he didn't know how to find it.

“Life attracts life,” were the alchemists wise words.

The boy understood, and allowed his horse to wander over the desert sands. Eventually they came across a snake. It was the omen the alchemist needed. He decided then to lead the boy through the desert to the Pyramids despite the danger of the armies. The boy tried to argue that he'd rather stay with Fatima and claimed she was all he needed. The alchemist then proceeded to outline the dissatisfaction the boy would have in his life should he abandon his Personal Legend. He would be happy, yes, for a time, and then his heart would only talk of what it missed. The boy knew he was right and agreed to continue his Personal Legend to the Pyramids. 'He immediately felt peace in his heart.'

Saying goodbye to Fatima the boy told her he loved her because the whole universe conspired for them to meet. He promised to return. She tearfully vowed to 'send her kisses on the wind, hoping the wind would touch the boys face.'

“Don't think about what you left behind,” the alchemist advised as they set out early the next morning.

But the boy couldn't help it. The days passed and hot turned to cold, the moon changed and the boy continued to dream of the oasis and the love he had found there. The wind brought stories of battles fought nearby carrying the sickly sweet smell of blood. The wars raged on around them and the alchemist's lessons continued. He told the boy that action was the only way to learn and that other alchemists had failed because 'they were seeking the treasures of their Personal Legend without wanting actually to live out the Personal Legend.'

“The wise men understood that this natural world was only an image and a copy of paradise. The existence of this world was simply a guarantee that there existed a world that was perfect. God created the world so that through its visible objects men could understand his teachings and the marvels of his wisdom. That was what I mean by action,” the alchemist explained.

The alchemist tells the boy to listen to his heart. The boy found this was not easy to do. He found it was never silent.

“Wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure,” the alchemist answers when the boy asks why, why was it important to listen to your heart?

“My heart is agitated,” the boy complained about his hearts passionate emotions.

“Good,” the alchemist responds. “Your heart is alive. Keep listening... You will never be able to escape from your heart. So you better listen to what it has to say.”

“My heart is afraid it will... suffer,” the boy admits.

“The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.”

The boy's heart told him that there was a treasure waiting for everyone, but seldom did anyone go in search of it anymore. Their hearts began to speak more and more softly. The hearts don't want the people to suffer when they realize they aren't following their dreams.

“Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victors being severely tested. That's the point at which most people give up,” the alchemist warns. “When you possess great treasures within you and try to tell others, seldom are you believed.”

The two travelers pass an encampment of one of the tribes. The boy assumes there is no danger. The alchemist became angry with the boy and warned him never to assume. There was still war. As if on cue two men ride up. However, there was no danger at that time and they were allowed to continue on their quest. They were only two days from the Pyramids. The boy was happy, until later that evening when danger finally showed up. A more powerful army camp detained them as spies. The alchemist gave all the boy's gold to the warriors and told them the boy was an extraordinary alchemist who wanted to show his powers. They gave him three days to get ready. His task? To turn himself into the wind. The boy was understandably upset.

“Your money saved us for three days. It's not often that money saves a person's life,” the alchemist scolded him.

He also mentioned to the boy that the fear of failure was the only thing that could stop someone from living their Personal Legend.

“I'm not afraid of failing,” the boy claimed. “It's just that I don't know how to turn myself into the wind.”

The alchemist wasn't worried for himself as he already knew how to turn himself into the wind.

3 days passed. The tribesman expected the boy to perform this miracle. The boy started by looking out over the desert. He realized that he had spent many months in it and still only knew a small part of it. He told the desert that somewhere out there was the woman he loved. To get back to her he needed the deserts help.

“What is love?” the desert asked.

The boy tried to explain about the connection with everything, the cycle of life and death. He tried to explain about love. The desert couldn't understand.

“Somewhere in your sands there is a woman waiting for me,” the boy pleaded.

The desert agreed to help as much as it could, but it couldn't change him into the wind. It instructed the boy to ask for help from the wind. A breeze picked up. The tribesmen noticed, the alchemist smiled. The wind knew what was going on. '[The winds] know everything and blow across the world without a birthplace and with no place to die.'

“Help me,” the boy implored the wind.

The wind didn't think it was possible. They were simply too different. The boy appealed to the wind's curiosity and begged the wind to help him so they could talk about the experience. The wind wanted very much to talk about the experience of being the wind, but it didn't know how to turn a boy into the wind and certainly knew nothing about love. The wind suggested the boy ask the heavens.

“Fill this place with a sandstorm [to blot] out the sun. Then I can look to the heaven without blinding myself,” the boy suggested.

The tribesmen were in awe! They could no longer see anything. Some of them were afraid. Meanwhile, the boy was asking the sun about love, about the connection everything shared. The sun claimed he could see it, that connection, that it communicated with it. The sun claimed to love the earth.

“It is not love to be static like the desert, nor is it love to roam the world like the wind. And it is not love to see everything from a distance, like you do. Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World. It is we who nourish [it] and that's where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are.”

“Nature knows me as the wisest in creation,” the sun said. “But I don't know how to turn you into the wind. Speak to the hand that wrote all.”

'A current of love rushed from the boys heart and the he began to pray... it was a prayer without words or pleas... The boy reached through to the Soul of the World and saw that it was part of the Soul of God. And he saw that the Soul of God was his own soul, and that he, a boy, could perform miracles.' The tribesmen were terrified and a legend was born. The chief, with a new found respect for Allah, provided the boy and the alchemist an escort party to see them safely across the desert. This party accompanied them until they were only three hours from the Pyramids. From there the boy must go alone.

Inside a monastery further up the path the alchemist gave the boy a gift. He showed the boy it was indeed possible to turn lead into gold. He splits this gold disc in four parts. He gave one to the boy as repayment for the tribesmen, he keeps one and he gives one to the monk who let them into the monastery

“This goes well beyond my generosity,” the monk responds.

“Don't say that again. Life might be listening and give you less next time,” the alchemist warns.

The fourth piece he leaves with the monk should the boy need it on the way back. The boy argues that he is about to find his treasure.

The alchemist reminds the boy that he's lost his gold twice already and tells him an old saying, “everything that happens once will never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”

As the boy prepares for his journey to the Pyramids the alchemist reminded him of his duty to reach his Personal Legend.

He said goodbye to the boy and told him to follow his heart. “No matter what [they do], every person on earth plays a role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it,” were the alchemist's final words.

The boys heart responded telling him to watch for where his tears would fall. That is where his treasure would be. It had been a month since he had last seen Fatima. A month since he had been in the comfort of the oasis. Exhausted he climbed one last dune and at the top, illuminated brightly in the light of the full moon, he could clearly see the 'solemn and majestic' Pyramids. The boy fell to his knees and wept. They were so beautiful. He knew that the old merchant was wrong. The Pyramids were not just a pile of rocks one could build in a yard. The boy wept with happiness. He knew he had made it. He had followed his Personal Legend. He knew that he could now go back to Fatima satisfied. But he wisely reminded himself 'that no project was ever completed until it's objective had been achieved.' He looked down at where his tears had fallen. There, a scarab beetle, valued by Egyptians, walked through the sand where the boys tears fell. It was an omen! The boy began to dig furiously. Not long a group of strange men came and harassed him. They demanded to know what he was doing. They stole the gold the alchemist gave him and beat him until the boy was afraid he was going to die.

“I'm digging for treasure!” the boy managed to scream.

The men stop their blows and allowed the boy to tell them about his dream to find treasure. They assumed he was stupid, and a thief. Before they left, one of them told the boy of a stupid dream he'd had once telling him to find treasure in a church in Spain. This particular church had a sycamore tree growing right out through the middle of it. He told the boy it was stupid to follow such dreams.

This book is an engaging tale of unexpected adventure. The suggestion that a treasure awaits us all is a powerful statement that inspires the reader to investigate the possibility of their own Personal Legend. It has a way of illuminating certain cultural questions and providing surprising answers to these long debated ideas. The Alchemist is a story of universal lessons told as an entertaining tale of a simple shepard as he dare to take on his own Personal Legend. It challenges the reader to look at their dreams and question what they could do to get closer to what they desire. It shows that life is truly surprising and delightful if we trust, and have faith.