NOVELS

The story begins with a young Andulasian
shepherd boy Santiago sleeping under a sycamore
on barren lands.
He sets out to locate treasure, which he dreamed
was hidden in the dusty lands of Egyptian
Pyramids. A Gypsy who interpreted his dream told
him "I am not going to charge you anything now;
But I want one-tenth of the treasure, if you find it".
She added hat he must go to the Pyramids of Egypt
to unearth the treasure. And thus he set out in
quest for the treasure.
On his way he meets Melchizedek – King of Salem -
who tells him that he will help him locate the
treasure provided he parts with one-tenth of his
sheep. On his way, he works with a crystal
merchant in the Tangier market to earn money to
buy some sheep.
He works there for almost a month and then sets
off on his journey again. On his way through the
African desert he meets a girl called Fatima, who
tells him: "Maktub, if I am really part of your
dream, you will come back one day"
In an oasis he meets the Alchemist, who teachs him
the language of the world, telling him: "Don't think
about what you have left behind; everything is
written in the soul of the world and there it will
stay forever."
On their way the alchemist and the shepherd are
taken captive by tribesmen dressed in blue who
take them to a nearby military camp thinking they
are spies. To make the tribesmen believe, the boy
had to accept their challenge and turn into wind
and after the wind stops he comes to know about
the soul of the world.
He finally arrives at the Pyramids of Egypt. As he
starts digging for the treasure, he is surrounded by
the refugees of the tribal wars who ask him "What
are you hiding there?"
The boy pleads that he was digging for a
mysterious treasure. The leader of the group says
he too had a dream where he saw a treasure in the
fields of Spain, where shepherds and their sheep
slept under a ruined church with a sycamore
growing out of it. But he was not so stupid as to
cross an entire desert just because of a dream. So
the boy comes to understand that the greatest
treasure is himself.
This book is brilliantly written. It touches your
heart as the story comes to an end. It teaches that
every treasure lies in our own hearts and there is
no need to search for it in the outside world.
Search yourself and you get the world. It is
recommended for those who love spirituality and
for those who would love to read something to
make their heart smile…