Summary
Santiago and the alchemist travel cautiously over the next two days while they
pass through the area where the tribal fighting is worst. Santiago tells the
alchemist his heart doesn’t want him to continue because it fears it will lose
everything. The alchemist replies that no heart suffers while it pursues its dreams,
because to pursue a dream is to encounter God. The next morning, Santiago’s heart
tells him that everyone who has God within him feels happy, and that everyone on
earth has a treasure waiting for him. Santiago tells the alchemist he has come to
peace with his heart.
The next day, three tribesmen approach Santiago and the alchemist. They insist
on searching the pair, and discover that the alchemist carries the Philosopher’s
Stone and the Elixir of Life. The tribesmen laugh when the alchemist tells them
about the magical properties of his possessions, and they allow to the two to
continue on. Santiago asks the alchemist why he told the men about his possessions,
and the alchemist replies that people seldom believe a person carrying
treasures.
As the pair travel, Santiago’s heart says it protected him throughout his life
in ways he never noticed. They pass a tribal encampment and Santiago says he feels
no danger. The alchemist gets angry, saying that Santiago should remember he travels
through the desert. Two men suddenly appear behind Santiago and the alchemist and
tell them they can travel no further. The alchemist stares into the eyes of the men
and tells them they are not going far, and the men leave. The alchemist explains to
Santiago that the eyes demonstrate the strength of one’s soul.
After the alchemist and Santiago cross a mountain range, the alchemist says
that they have two days’ journey to the pyramids. Santiago asks the alchemist to
tell him the secret of alchemy before the two part ways, and the alchemist says
Santiago already knows alchemy because he can penetrate to the Soul of the World.
Santiago asks how to specifically turn lead into gold. The alchemist says that gold
represents the most evolved metal, and that successful alchemists understand
evolution.
That evening, hundreds of Arab tribesmen dressed in blue approach Santiago and
the alchemist and accuse them of acting as spies. They take them to a military camp
and begin questioning them. The alchemist says Santiago is an alchemist, and offers
Santiago’s money to the tribe’s chief. After the chief accepts the money, the
alchemist says that Santiago could destroy the camp with the force of the wind. The
men laugh and challenge Santiago to prove the alchemist’s claim. The alchemist says
that after three days Santiago will transform himself into the wind. Santiago feels
confused, and the alchemist says he was only trying to avoid getting killed.
Santiago replies that, since he can’t become the wind, they will die in three days
anyway. The alchemist pours tea on Santiago’s wrists, saying only fear prevents
someone from living out their Personal Legend.
Analysis
As Santiago continues his journey with the alchemist, he learns several new
lessons about himself and his abilities. First, the Alchemist explains that each
person’s heart emerges from the Soul of the World. Because Santiago’s heart connects
him to the Soul of the World, Santiago must learn to listen to it properly.
Santiago’s heart does not always influence him in positive ways, though. It
expresses fear, yearns for Fatima, and otherwise distracts Santiago from following
his Personal Legend. Santiago goes as far as to call his heart a traitor, and
wonders why he should listen to such a discouraging thing. The alchemist explains
that the heart never stays silent, so Santiago must come to terms with it. In other
words, Santiago must learn to separate himself from the desires of his heart. Only
by paying attention to his heart and understanding its “dodges and tricks” can
Santiago tame it and turn it into an ally.
The alchemist teaches Santiago two additional lessons during the pair’s
ensuing encounters with tribesmen. He admits to the first set of tribesman that he
carries two legendary treasures, the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life, in
order to show Santiago that most people do not believe someone who possesses great
treasures. Though the alchemist refers to his material treasures, this lesson can
also apply to intangible treasures, such as spiritual knowledge of dreams and omens.
In another lesson, the alchemist snaps at Santiago for forgetting that they are in a
dangerous place. Santiago, who has tamed his heart and feels no fear, prompts this
reaction by the alchemist when he says he does not feel worried about the camp of
tribesmen they pass. The alchemist reminds Santiago that the Soul of the World
doesn’t regard him as any more special than anyone else, causing Santiago to think
to himself that everything is one. As if to prove this point to Santiago, two men
ride up on Santiago and the alchemist, and only leave when the alchemist persuades
them to go.
The third encounter Santiago and the alchemist have with tribesmen does not
end as easily as the first two, mainly because the alchemist seems to deliberately
cause trouble. He gives away all of Santiago’s money, for instance, then claims that
Santiago has the power to destroy their camp and will turn himself into the wind to
prove it. The alchemist appears to do this to test Santiago, and while Santiago has
faced tests previously on his journey to his Personal Legend, including surviving in
Tangier and finding life in the desert with the alchemist, this test will be by far
the greatest he has faced. Santiago has only three days to face down his fear of
failing and learn to turn himself into the wind. At this point in the story,
Santiago doesn’t have any idea how to do this. But as the alchemist has told him, no
instruction manual can guide him. He must learn by doing.
