“The Alchemist” – Paul Coelho

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting”, he thought, …

It’s the simple things that are the most extraordinary; only wise men are able to understand them.

“What’s the world’s greatest lie?” The boy asked, completely surprised.

The King of Salem – “It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”

The King of Salem – “It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, know what their destiny is.

At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realise their destiny.”

“Here I am, between my flock and my treasure”, the boy thought, He had to chose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have.

He no longer had to go to seek food for the sheep; he could go in search of his treasure instead. He had not a cent in his pocket, but he had faith. He had decided, the night before, that he would be as much an adventurer as the ones he had admired in his books.

“This candy merchant isn’t making candy so that later he can travel or marry a shopkeeper’s daughter. He’s doing it because its what he wants to do”, thought the boy. He realised he could do the same thing the old man had done – sense whether a person was near or far from his destiny. Just by looking at them. “Its easy, and yet I’ve never done it before”, he thought.

The crystal merchant – “But you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons that I have never known. Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I’m going to feel worse that I did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish and I don’t want to do so.”

But the sheep had taught me something even more important; that there was a language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired.

“I know why I want to get back to my flock”, he thought. “I understand sheep; they’re no longer a problem, and they can be good friends. On the other hand, I don’t know if the desert can be a friend, and its in the desert that I have to search for my treasure. If I don’t find it, I can always go home. I finally have enough money, and all the time I need. Why not?”

“Everyone has his own way of learning things”, he said to himself. “His way isn’t the same as mine, nor mine his. But we’re both in search of our destinies, and I respect him for that.”

…realising that he had loved her before he even knew she existed. He knew that his love for her would enable him to discover every treasure in the world.

“I’m going to guide you across the desert”, the alchemist said.

“I want to stay at the oasis”, the boy answered.

“I’ve found Fatima, and as far as I’m concerned, she’s worth more than treasure.”

“Fatima is a woman of the desert”, said the alchemist. “She knows that men have to go away in order to return. And she already has her treasure: it’s you. Now she expects that you will find what you are looking for”.

“Well, what if I decided to stay?”

“Let me tell you what will happen. You’ll be the counsellor of the oasis. You have enough gold to buy many sheep and many camels. You’ll marry Fatima and you’ll both be happy for a year. You’ll learn to love the desert, and you’ll get to know every one of the fifty thousand palms. You’ll watch them as they grow, demonstrating how the world is always changing. And you’ll get better and better at understanding omens, because the desert is the best teacher there is.

“Sometime during the second year, you’ll remember about the treasure. The omens will begin insistently to speak of it, and you’ll try to ignore them. You’ll use your knowledge for the welfare of the oasis and its inhabitants. The tribal chieftans will appreciate what you do. And your camels will bring you wealth and power.

“During you third year , the omens will continue to speak of your treasure and your destiny. You’ll walk around, night after night, at the oasis and Fatima will be unhappy because she’ll feel it was she who interrupted your quest. But you will love her, and she’ll return your love. You’ll remember that she never asked you to stay, because a women of the desert knows that she must await her man. So you won’t blame her. But many times you’ll walk the sands of the desert, thinking that maybe you could have left…that you could have trusted more in your love for Fatima. Because what kept you at the oasis was your own fear that you might never come back. At that point, the omens will tell you that your treasure is buried forever.

“Then, sometime during your fourth year, the omens will abandon you, because you’ve stopped listening to them. The tribal chieftans will see that, and you’ll be dismissed from your position as counsel. But then, you’ll be a rich merchant, with many camels and a great deal of merchandise. You’ll spend the rest of your days knowing that you didn’t pursue your destiny, and that now its too late.

“You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons that pursuit, it’s because it wasn’t true love…the love that speaks the Language of the World.”

The alchemist erased the circle in the sand and the snake slithered away among the rocks. The boy remembered the crystal merchant who had always wanted to go to Mecca, and the Englishman in search of the alchemist. He thought of the woman who had trusted him in the desert. And he looked out over the desert that had brought him to the woman he loved.

They mounted their horses, and this was time it was the boy who followed the alchemist back to the oasis. The wind brought the sounds of the oasis to them, and the boy tried to hear Fatima’s voice.

But that night, as he had watched the cobra within the circle, the strange horseman with the falcon on his shoulder had spoken of love and treasure, of women of the desert and of his destiny.

“I’m going with you” the boy said. And he immediately felt peace in his heart.

“We’ll leave tomorrow before sunrise”, was the alchemist’s only response.

“Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him”, his heart said. “We, people’s hearts, seldom say so much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them – the path to their destinies, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.

“So, we their hearts, speak out more and more softly. We never stop speaking out, but we begin to hope that our words won’t be heard: we don’t want people to suffer because they don’t follow their hearts.”

“To show you one of life’s simple lessons”, the alchemist answered. “When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.”

The boy watched the exchange with fascination.

“You dominated those horsemen with the way you looked at them,” he said.

“Your eyes show the strength of your soul”, answered the alchemist.

The boy reached through to the Soul of the World, and saw that it was a 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.

“Thank you”, said the boy. “You taught me the Language of the World.”

“I only invoked what you already knew.”

“Where your treasure is, there also will be your heart”, the alchemist had told him.

But his heart was speaking of other things. With pride, it told the story of a shepherd who had left his flock to follow a dream he had on two different occasions. It told of destiny, and of the many men who had wondered in search of distant lands or beautiful women, confronting the people of their times with their preconceived notions. It spoke of journey, discoveries, books and change.