PART TWO Summary (continued)

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Summary

That evening, the boy makes his way south to the alchemist. He waits at a tent supposedly occupied by genies until the alchemist returns with two dead hawks over his shoulder. The alchemist invites him into his tent, knowing that Santiago's Personal Legend has brought him here. The boy sees none of the apparatus he expected of an alchemist and is surprised by this. The alchemist offers to cook the two hawks for their meal and the boy suspects they're the same hawks he had seen the day before. Santiago asks the man why he wanted to see him and received the reply that the alchemist had foreseen his coming and knew the boy would need help.

When Santiago insists that it is the Englishman who is seeking the man's help, the alchemist replies that the Englishman has other things to do first, like understanding the desert. He indicates that the Englishman is well on his way. The alchemist then tells Santiago that it is his job to point him in the right direction to his treasure. However, Santiago says he has everything he needs: the money, the camel, and Fatima. However, none of those things, according to the alchemist, come from the pyramids and the pyramids are his destiny. Then, the alchemist tells him that he must rest that night as if he is preparing for combat and to remember that wherever his heart is, there he will find his treasure. The next day, he must sell his camel and buy a horse which will be a mount that will see him through the journey better than the camel.

Notes

It is interesting that the Alchemist brings back two dead hawks for the meal he prepares for the boy. This is symbolic of the omen of danger now being erased and consumed and therefore, bringing peace. Ironically, Santiago will be allowed no peace, because he must continue his journey to the pyramids to complete his Personal Legend. The way there will not be easy, but he must follow his heart to find his treasure. He cannot give up now or else he will become the baker or the crystal merchant, who will always regret that they had never found theirs.

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Summary

The next night, Santiago appears at the alchemist's tent with a horse. They mount up and the Alchemist tells the boy to show him where there is life in the desert, because only those who can find such signs of life will ever be able to find their treasure. When Santiago expresses his fear that he doesn't know how to find life in the desert, the alchemist merely replies, Life attracts life. The boy then loosens the reins of his horse and they begin to gallop across the dunes. When his horse begins to slow, the boy tells the alchemist that there is life there, because the horse knows the language of life. They dismount and the alchemist bends to the ground and suddenly thrusts his arm into a hole among the stones. After quite a struggle, he eventually grasps a snake and pulls it out by the tail. Then, the alchemist uses his scimitar to draw a circle in the sand and he places the snake - a cobra - inside the circle where the reptile immediately relaxes. To the alchemist, this is the omen he has been looking for - life in the desert is an omen of the pyramids which are surrounded by the desert.

Santiago tells the Alchemist that he wants to stay at the oasis, because he feels like he has abandoned Fatima, who has become more valuable than his treasure. The alchemist tells Santiago that she is a woman of the desert and knows that she must wait for the man she loves to find what he is looking for. Santiago asks what will happen if he decides to stay on the oasis. The alchemist tells him that he will marry Fatima and remain the counselor of the desert and be happy for one year. However, in the second year, he will begin to remember the treasure and the omens will begin speaking to him again.

Then, as he paces and thinks about what he has not done, Fatima will become unhappy, because she will believe it is her fault he interrupted his quest. By the fourth year after his marriage, the treasure will be buried forever and he will spend the rest of his life regretting his choice. He must realize that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons the quest, it wasn't true love at all. The alchemist and Santiago return to the oasis and the boy spends some more time thinking about all that the alchemist had said. Finally, he tells the older man that he's going with him and immediately feels peace in his heart. The alchemist says they will leave at sunrise.

Notes

Again the reader is presented, along with Santiago, lessons about life: one is the concept that life attracts life which makes Santiago give over his trust to his horse, which then helps find the snake. Knowing this helps Santiago and us to realize the language of life and the language of the world; two is the concept that, if we abandon our quest to find our Personal Legend and our treasure, we will always regret what we missed and that will impact not only on us, but on those we love as well; third is the concept that love never holds us back or else it is not true love. All of these ideas are what make Santiago willing to pursue his dream.

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Summary

In the middle of the night, Santiago has an Arab boy go to Fatima's tent and bring her to him. This is a violation of The Tradition, but Santiago is willing to violate it, because he feels the need to explain his love for her and why he is going away. He declares his love to her and promises that he will return. She tells him that once she had looked to the desert with longing, but now she will look to it with hope for his return. She cries, which surprises Santiago, because she had said that women of the desert were strong for their men, but she tells him that even though she is a woman of the desert, above all, she is a woman. After she returns to her own tent, Fatima realizes that now the oasis is empty for her and the desert has become important, because now it represents her hope for his return.

Notes

This section is a touching goodbye between Santiago and Fatima. It reinforces the power of true love, which allows us to await the one we love with hope and allows us to give the one we love permission to seek his treasure.