The Alchemist Sparknotes

In Andalusia, Spain, a shepherd boy named Santiago, decides to sleep in an abandoned church that has no roof; however, it has a sycamore tree growing from within. Besides from his only company being a herd of sheep, Santiago's only belongings is a jacket and one book, which he often uses as a pillow. The next morning, he begins his journey to the village where he plans on selling his sheep’s wool. Stopping briefly in Tarifa, Santiago visits a fortune-teller for help in interpreting a dream that he has been having on a daily basis. He tells the fortune-teller that in his dream, he is in a field with his sheep when a child appears. The child takes Santiago’s hands and transports him to the Egyptian pyramids, telling him along the way that there

The fortune-teller advises him to travel to the pyramids to find this treasure. After talking to the fortune-teller ,Santiago decides to read his book. While reading his book, Santiago meets an old man, professing to be Melchizedek, the king of Salem. The king encourages Santiago to seek his Personal Legend, and he explains that when a person wants something, that desire arises from the Soul of the World. Melchizedek tells Santiago that the treasure he is looking for is near the Egyptian pyramids and that he will have to follow the omens to find it. The old man gives him two stones, Urim and Thummim, to consult in case he has trouble interpreting on decisions to make. Santiago sells his flock and travels through Tangier, Africa, where he is robbed out of his money. Outraged he asks the two stones if he will ever be able to find the treasure. In reply, the stones fall out of the pouch onto the earth. Santiago interprets this as a positive sign, reaffirming his faith. Resuming his travel, he happens upon a crystal shop where he asked the owner if he could work there, so that he can have shelter and money for

As he picks up the two stones he remembers about the omens and why he had stopped to help out at the shop. So that night he made his mind that he will continue his journey to find his Personal Legend. In the morning as he says his goodbyes to the shopkeeper and explains why he has to go, the shopkeeper tells him something very important. The shopkeeper tells him, “Maktub.” Then Santiago asked, “What does that mean?” The shopkeeper told him, “You would have to been born an Arab to understand, but in your language it would be something like ‘It is written.’ ” As the shopkeeper leaves, Santiago thinks of what the shopkeeper just said and also a way to cross the egyptian desert. When he thought of the way to transport himself to Egypt, he put the plan into motion. His plan was to go with the caravan of people heading that way. On his trip he met an Englishman not that much difference in age from him ;furthermore, learned that he wanted to meet an alchemist and also become one. Santiago also talked a lot with the camel drivers and became good acquaintance with