Lead Into GoldThe two travelers stop a few miles shy of their destination at a monastery, meeting an old Coptic monk. From this point on, only Santiago can proceed. He thanks the alchemist for teaching him the language of the world. The alchemist replied, '''I only invoked what you already knew.'' Show But before they separate, the alchemist asks the Coptic monk to use the kitchen. There, he produces gold from lead using the Philosopher's Stone. He breaks it into four pieces, sharing it among the three of them. The fourth portion is given to the monk to hold for Santiago, because though Santiago has been paid and is search of even more treasure, the alchemist says he's already lost his gold twice. He believes in a proverb that says ''Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.'' One Last TaleAs Santiago prepares to go, the alchemist provides one last tale. He reminds Santiago of the sons of a good man. The man had a vision from an angel saying that one of his sons would be famous for his words. As one of the man's sons was a poet and the other was a soldier, the man assumed it must be the poet. When the man dies, he goes to heaven and asks to know what the words of his son were that became so known. It turns out they were instead from the soldier, who became a Christian and showed faith in Jesus's healing powers. The point is that one's destiny can be completely unexpected but much better than planned. The alchemist says ''No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it'' Battered and BloodiedSantiago makes it to the Pyramids and cries at the sight of them. ''If he wanted to, he could now return to the oasis, go back to Fatima, and live his life as a simple shepherd.'' Yet he still hadn't actually found any treasure: ''he reminded himself that no project is completed until its objective has been achieved.'' When he sees a scarab - an omen - he starts to dig. However, a few ruffians find him and figure he is digging for gold, as he already had some on his person. They take it (as the alchemist predicted) and then beat Santiago until he finally tells them that he had a dream saying he would find treasure at the Pyramids. The thieves mock him and one of them says, ''I dreamed that I should travel to the fields of Spain and look for a ruined church where shepherds and their sheep slept...I was told that, if I dug at the roots of the sycamore, I would find a hidden treasure. But I'm not so stupid as to cross an entire desert just because of a recurrent dream.'' As the attackers leave him for dead, Santiago can't help but laugh, as he finally knows where his treasure is. The EpilogueThe church the thief referred to was the same one from the beginning, where Santiago had his dream of the Pyramids. In the epilogue, he has returned to this church, thanks to the gold left by the alchemist with the monk. He thinks ''of the many roads he had traveled, and of the strange way God had chosen to show him his treasure.'' He laughs to himself as he digs for his treasure at the sycamore where the thief had mentioned. The theme of treasure appears very early on in the story. Santiago, a travelling Shepherd, has a dream one night telling him that his treasure awaits him by the pyramids of Egypt. This dream sparks his journey where along the way, the people he meets and the experiences he has shape and transform his idea and perception of treasure. In the end, Santiago finds his physical treasure but his journey is not over as he had once feared. Santiago’s perception of treasure has transcended
the physical and now he has respect for the treasure of home, knowledge and love. While Santiago originally sets out for his treasure of material riches, the treasure he values most has been transformed to that of knowledge and love along his journey. The theme of treasure appears early on in the story and inspires Santiago’s journey. One night while herding his flock, he dreams that there is buried treasure waiting for him at the pyramids of Egypt. After seeking advice from a gypsy who
interprets his dream, she again confirms that at the pyramids of Egypt, “there you will find your treasure” (14). Santiago’s journey begins by the hope for material…show more content… Where did Santiago's dream tell him his treasure was located?One of the thieves tells Santiago that he had a recurring dream about a buried treasure, except his dream told him to go to an abandoned church in Spain where shepherds often took their sheep to rest.
What was Santiago's true treasure?The treasure shows up early on, in a dream that Santiago has about a child transporting him to the pyramids and telling him that he'll find a hidden treasure there. And the treasure does turn out to be pretty awesome, "a chest of Spanish gold coins.
Does Santiago find the treasure in Egypt?But why Santiago finally found his treasure not near the Pyramid, instead he found it in Spain, the place he used to live before.
Who tells Santiago where his treasure?Melchizedek tells Santiago that the treasure is in Egypt, near the pyramids, and that he can find it by following the omens. Melchizedek opens his cape and removes one black stone and one white stone from the center of his breastplate, which he says are called Urim and Thummim.
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