The Alchemist

A shepherd boy named Santiago arrives with his herd at an abandoned church in Andalusia. He spends the night inside with his sheep, using a recently-read book as a pillow. Awaking just before a familiar dream ends, it is still night. Santiago wakes his flock; he has become “accustomed to their schedule” (10). Believing that the sheep understand his words, he speaks to them, usually about his books, his loneliness, or his happiness. This time he tells them about a girl—the daughter of a merchant in a village they will reach in four days’ time.

Santiago met the merchant a year ago. While he waited to shear his sheep in the man’s presence, the girl found him reading a book. They had talked for two hours. He tells her about his life as a shepherd and “her bright, Moorish eyes went wide with fear and surprise” (11). Then, the merchant appeared, and the conversation ended. Worried that he might not see the girl again, Santiago assures his sheep, “I know other girls in other places” (12). He leads his sheep in the direction of the morning sun.

Reflecting on his dreams and his sheep, he leads the flock across the fields before the day becomes too hot. He has been walking through the Andalusian terrain for two years after attending a seminary until he was 16. Though his family had wanted him to be a priest, Santiago “had wanted to know the world, and this was more important to him than knowing God” (13). Telling his family this had been difficult. Eventually, his father had handed him a pouch with three ancient Spanish gold coins to buy a flock and gave Santiago his blessing. Santiago seeks new roads to travel whenever he can in the “huge and inexhaustible” (14) world. He aims to reach Tarifa by noon, where he can exchange his book, shave, replenish his food and drink, and “prepare himself for his meeting with the girl” (14).

In Tarifa, a mystical old woman sits Santiago down in a rear room of her house. She prays, and Santiago worries that it is a Roma prayer. The old woman finds his palms to be “very interesting” (15), though his nervousness makes his hands tremble. He tells her about his dream: In a field with his sheep, a child appears and begins to play; after playing a while, the child takes Santiago’s hand and transports them to the Egyptian pyramids, where Santiago is told he will find “a hidden treasure” (16). He wakes before he can discover the exact location. In lieu of a fee, the woman demands 10 percent of whatever Santiago finds. He laughs, agreeing in order for her to interpret the dream. She tells him that he will find a great treasure in Egypt. Santiago leaves. He is disappointed but has paid nothing.

He completes his chores. As he reads his new book, an old man sits beside him and tries to begin a conversation. Santiago is thinking of the girl, but they begin to talk about the book, which the man has read. The man reveals the world’s greatest lie, that “at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate” (18). They talk more: The man says that he is the King of Salem, which Santiago considers a strange thing to say. The man is named Melchizedek, and he offers to tell Santiago the location of the buried treasure in exchange for 10 percent of his sheep. A flash appears on Melchizedek’s chest and he quickly covers it and then draws the names of Santiago’s family in the sand.

Santiago is “awed and embarrassed” (20). Melchizedek reveals that Santiago has discovered his Personal Legend, which is what he has “always wanted to accomplish” (20). Santiago struggles to make sense of the man’s words. Melchizedek says that “whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe” (20). It is a person’s obligation to realize their Personal Legend, even if a mysterious force hinders them. The old man is telling Santiago this because, in this moment, Santiago is on the cusp of giving up his personal legend. At such moments, Melchizedek appears. Sometimes, he appears “in the form of a solution, or a good idea [or he can] make it easier for things to happen” (21). Most people do not realize that these things are done, and Melchizedek tells the story of people who he has helped. If Santiago returns the next day with a tenth of his flock, Melchizedek will tell him how to find the hidden treasure.

Santiago cannot concentrate on his book. He contemplates buying a ticket to Africa. Deciding against it, he wanders slowly through the cities and stands on a high ramp from where he can see across the water to Africa. He feels the levanter wind blowing and decides that there is “nothing to hold him back except himself” (24). The next day, he meets the old man. He has sold most of his flock, setting aside six for Melchizedek. The man tells him that the treasure is in Egypt, near the pyramids (just as the old woman had done) and that he must “follow the omens” (25). Melchizedek opens his cloak to reveal a “breastplate of heavy gold, covered with precious stones” (25). He hands Santiago a white and a black stone plucked from his breastplate: They are named Urim and Thummim. The black means “yes” and the white means “no.” They will help guide Santiago if he asks an objective question.

Melchizedek implores Santiago to follow his Personal Legend and then tells him a story about a boy, told by a wise man to carry an oil-filled spoon around a busy house to learn the secret of happiness. The moral is that “a shepherd may like to travel, but he should never forget about his sheep” (26). Melchizedek blesses Santiago with strange gestures and then leaves. Later, Melchizedek sits on the walls of an old fort and hopes the boy will succeed. It is a shame, Melchizedek thinks that “he’s going to forget my name” (27).

Santiago finds Africa strange. He does not speak Arabic and is forced to drink bitter tea rather than wine. As he thinks about omens, a “young man in western dress” (28) speaks to him in Spanish. Santiago offers to hire the man as a guide to the pyramids and is told that it costs money to cross the Sahara Desert. Santiago shows off his coins. The young man and the bar owner talk together in Arabic. When the young man suggests they leave, the owner grabs Santiago and speaks in “an angry stream of words” (29). “He wanted your money” (29), the young man explains as they exit.

To reach the pyramids by the next day, the young man offers to buy two camels and takes the money. Distracted for a moment by a shiny sword, Santiago loses the man in the crowd.

As the sun sets, Santiago realizes that he has lost everything. He feels “so ashamed that he wanted to cry” (30). He worries that the experience will make him a bitter and untrusting person; he believes that he is “too insignificant to conquer the world” (30). All he has left are his jacket, his book, and the two stones. He asks the stones questions and receives positive answers. He discovers a hole in the bag and decides to leave it. Feeling better, Santiago reminds himself that he is “an adventurer, looking for treasure” (32). Santiago sleeps in the marketplace. He wakes up with a renewed sense of purpose and explores the market. He helps a candy seller set up a stall and receives the first candy made that day in exchange. After walking away, he realizes that both men had understood each other even though “one of them had spoken Arabic and the other Spanish” (32). He wanders the narrow streets to learn what lessons he can.

At the top of a hilly street, a crystal merchant thinks back on how his business has depleted in recent years. He sees a poor boy pass by outside and, intrigued, decides to delay his lunch. Santiago enters the shop; there is a card in the doorway proclaiming that several languages are spoken inside. He offers to clean the store windows in exchange for something to eat. The shopkeeper says nothing; Santiago uses his jacket to clean the windows, and two men enter and buy crystal. The crystal merchant takes him for lunch. There, he offers Santiago a job. When Santiago replies that he only needs money to get to Egypt, the merchant laughs. Egypt is thousands of miles away. After a long silence, the merchant offers to pay for Santiago’s passage back to Spain. Santiago accepts the job in a shop with the aim of saving money to buy sheep.