The Alchemist | Page 7

came to. The boy waited, and then
interrupted the old man just as he himself had been interrupted. "Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because you are trying to realize your destiny. And you are at the point where you're about to give it all
up."
"And that's when you always appear on the scene?"
"Not always in this way, but I always appear in one form or another. Sometimes I appear in the form of
a solution, or a good idea. At other times, at a crucial moment, I make it easier for things to happen.
There are other things I do, too, but most of the time people don't realize I've done them."
The old man related that, the week before, he had been forced to appear before a miner, and had taken
the form of a stone. The miner had abandoned everything to go mining for emeralds. For five years he
had been working a certain river, and had examined hundreds of thousands of stones looking for an
emerald. The miner was about to give it all up, right at the point when, if he were to examine just one
more stone—justone more —he would find his emerald. Since the miner had sacrificed everything to his
destiny, the old man decided to become involved. He transformed himself into a stone that rolled up to
the miner's foot. The miner, with all the anger and frustration of his five fruitless years, picked up the stone
and threw it aside. But he had thrown it with such force that it broke the stone it fell upon, and there,
embedded in the broken stone, was the most beautiful emerald in the world.
"People learn, early in their lives, what is their reason for being," said the old man, with a certain
bitterness. "Maybe that's why they give up on it so early, too. But that's the way it is."
The boy reminded the old man that he had said something about hidden treasure.
"Treasure is uncovered by the force of flowing water, and it is buried by the same currents," said the old
man. "If you want to learn about your own treasure, you will have to give me one-tenth of your flock."
"What about one-tenth of my treasure?"
The old man looked disappointed. "If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll
lose your desire to work toward getting it."

The boy told him that he had already promised to give one-tenth of his treasure to the Gypsy.
"Gypsies are experts at getting people to do that," sighed the old man. "In any case, it's good that you've
learned that everything in life has its price. This is what the Warriors of the Light try to teach."
The old man returned the book to the boy.
"Tomorrow, at this same time, bring me a tenth of your flock. And I will tell you how to find the hidden
treasure. Good afternoon."
And he vanished around the corner of the plaza.
*
The boy began again to read his book, but he was no longer able to concentrate. He was tense and
upset, because he knew that the old man was right. He went over to the bakery and bought a loaf of
bread, thinking about whether or not he should tell the baker what the old man had said about him.
Sometimes it's better to leave things as they are, he thought to himself, and decided to say nothing. If he
were to say anything, the baker would spend three days thinking about giving it all up, even though he
had gotten used to the way things were. The boy could certainly resist causing that kind of anxiety for the
baker. So he began to wander through the city, and found himself at the gates. There was a small building
there, with a window at which people bought tickets to Africa. And he knew that Egypt was in Africa.
"Can I help you?" asked the man behind the window.
"Maybe tomorrow," said the boy, moving away. If he sold just one of his sheep, he'd have enough to get
to the other shore of the strait. The idea frightened him.
"Another dreamer," said the ticket seller to his assistant, watching the boy walk away. "He doesn't have
enough money to travel."
While standing at the ticket window, the boy had remembered his flock, and decided he should go back
to being a shepherd. In two years he had learned everything about shepherding: he knew how to shear
sheep, how to care for pregnant ewes, and how to protect the sheep from wolves. He knew all the fields
and pastures of Andalusia. And he knew what was the fair price for every one of his animals.
He decided to return to his friend's stable by the longest route possible. As he walked past the city's
castle, he interrupted his return, and climbed the stone ramp that