Augustine Mary F. Abellana Grade 11-St.

Aloysius

“The Alchemist”

By: Paulo Coelho

There was a shepherd named Santiago. As dusk was falling, the boy arrived with his herd
at an abandoned church, and an enormous sycamore tree had grown on the spot where the
sacristy once stood. He decided to spend the night there. He lay down and used a book he had
just finished reading as his pillow. It was still dark when he awoke, and looking up, he could see
the stars through the half-destroyed roof. “I wanted to sleep a little longer” he thought. He had a
reoccurring dream that night as he had a week ago. He woke up taking his staff and began to
awaken his sheep, calling each by name. He had always believed that sheep were able to
understand what he said. Sometimes he would speak to them on the things they had seen in the
villages they passed. The boy talked to his sheep about the Andalusian girl he is in love with.
The girl was a typical in the region of Andalusia, with flowing black hair, and eyes that vaguely
recalled the Moorish conquerors. Santiago will see this girl in a few days, when he sells his
flock's wool to her merchant father. He was planning, on this visit, to explain to the girl how it
was that a simple shepherd knew how to read. That he entered a seminary until he was sixteen
because his parents wanted him to become a priest; Santiago has studied Latin, Spanish and
theology in the seminary. But ever since he had been a child, he had wanted to know the world,
and this was much more important to him than knowing God and learning about man’s sins. One
afternoon on a visit to his family, he had summoned up the courage to tell his father that he
didn’t want to become a priest because he wanted to travel. His father gave his blessing and gave
him three ancient Spanish gold coins he hid over a dozen years as part of his inheritance to buy
his flock. That is why he became a shepherd. On his way to see the merchant and his daughter,
Santiago visits the village of Tarifa. He met an old woman who interprets dreams, which what
she says are the language of God. Santiago recounts his reoccurring dream to the old woman: He
is in a field with his flock and then was visited by a child who transported him to the pyramids in
Egypt; there, the child said: ‘If you come here, you will find a hidden treasure’ and when the
child was about to tell the exact location of the treasure, he woke up. The old woman told
Santiago that she will interpret his dream on one condition: She won't charge him any money,
but Santiago has to share with her one-tenth of any treasure he finds. Santiago agrees. The old
woman says the dream is in what she calls "the language of the world," and that Santiago needs
to travel to the pyramids, where he will find a treasure that will make him rich. “Well how am I
going to get to Egypt?” said the boy.” I only interpret dreams; I don’t know how to turn them
into a reality. Santiago leaves her house upset and disappointed. He claims that he will never
again believe in dreams. Next Santiago meets a mysterious old man who seems able to read his
mind. This man introduces himself as Melchizedek, or the King of Salem. He tells Santiago
about good and bad omens and says that it is the shepherd boy's duty to pursue his Personal
Legend. “When you want something, the entire universe conspires you in achieving it”, said
Melchizedek. Melchizedek then gives Santiago two stones, Urim and Thummim, with which to
interpret omens. Santiago was briefly unsure before selling his flock and purchasing a ticket to
Tangier, in northern Africa, to which he travels by boat. Shortly after he arrives there, a thief
stole all of his money, so he decided to look for a way to make enough money to return home.
He finds work in the shop of a crystal merchant, where he made improvements that made
considerable financial rewards. After eleven months of working in the shop, Santiago was unsure
of how to proceed. He was thinking that should he return to Andalusia a rich man and buy more
sheep? Or should he cross the vast Sahara in pursuit of the hidden treasure of his dreams? But He
eventually joined a caravan traveling to Egypt. Santiago meets an Englishman who wants to
learn the secret of alchemy, or turning any metal into gold, from a famous alchemist who lives at
an oasis on the way to the pyramids. While traveling, Santiago begins listening to the desert and
discovering the Soul of the World. The caravan eventually reaches the oasis, and there Santiago
meets an Arab girl named Fatima and at that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and
the Soul of the World surged within him. He learned the most important part of the language that
the entire world spoke — the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in
their heart. It was love.” The caravan leader gathers the travelers together and tells them that
tribal warfare prevents them from continuing their journey. Santiago wanders from the oasis into
the desert and, seeing two hawks fighting in the sky, has a vision of an army entering the oasis.
Because attacking an oasis is a violation of the rules of the desert, Santiago shares his vision with
the oasis's tribal chieftain. Soon afterward, Santiago is confronted by a black-garbed, veiled
stranger with a sword, who sits atop a white horse. It was the alchemist. The tribal chieftain arms
his men, and they are well-prepared when the oasis is indeed invaded. The alchemist offers to
cross the desert with Santiago. Soon the two men enter into an area of intense tribal warfare.
Warriors hold the two men captive, but eventually allow them to continue their journey. The
alchemist told Santiago that he needs to return to the oasis, and that the rest of the trip is his to
make alone so that he can claim his Personal Legend. The alchemist said that the wind told him
Santiago was coming and would need help. He instructs Santiago to sleep well, trade his camel
for a horse, and remember that his treasure will be where his heart is. The alchemist tells
Santiago not to think about what he's leaving behind, explaining that "Everything is written in
the Soul of the World, and there it will stay forever." The alchemist tells Santiago to show him
signs of life in the desert, since "Only those who can see such signs of life are able to find
treasure. Once he has connected to the Soul of God, Santiago is indeed able to transform himself
into the wind, becoming the mightiest windstorm in anyone's memory. The alchemist is pleased,
the tribal commander is impressed, and Santiago is relieved; his life is spared and he can
continue to pursue his Personal Legend and find the hidden treasure. At the end of the day, they
come upon a Coptic Christian monastery. The alchemist uses the monastery's kitchen to perform
the art of alchemy. After he has successfully turned lead into gold, the alchemist splits the gold
into four sections. He keeps one piece and gives one to the monastery in thanks for its
hospitality, and one to Santiago to make up for what he handed over to the tribal commander.
The alchemist gives the last piece of gold to the monk to hold onto, in case Santiago should need
it in the future. Santiago arrives at the Egyptian pyramids and begins to dig. Some thieves see
Santiago digging in the sand and think he is hiding something. They searched Santiago's clothes
and find the piece of gold that the alchemist gave him. Assuming he must have buried more gold
in the sand, they force Santiago to continue digging until the next morning. When he doesn't find
any riches, the thieves beat him badly. Santiago screams at them that he is only looking for
treasure because he dreamed twice about a buried treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. One of the
thieves tells Santiago that he had a recurring dream about a buried treasure, except his dream told
him to go to an abandoned church in Spain where shepherds often took their sheep to rest." In
my dream," the thief says, "there was a sycamore growing out of the ruins of the sacristy, and I
was told that, if I dug at the roots of the sycamore, I would find a hidden treasure. But I'm not so
stupid as to cross an entire desert just because of a recurrent dream." After the thieves depart,
Santiago sits up and starts laughing. He knows where the hidden treasure is buried. Santiago
goes back to the church where he dreamed of the treasure near the pyramids. He digs where he
slept, beneath a sycamore tree, and there it is: Santiago's treasure. Digging in the sacristy beneath
the sycamore tree, Santiago uncovers a chest of gold coins, precious gems, golden, feathered
masks, and stone statues. "It's true," he thinks, "life really is generous to those who pursue their
Personal Legend”

“When you want something, the entire universe conspires you in achieving it”