+ “Well, what if I decide to stay?” +“Let me tell you what will happen. You’ll be the counselor of the +oasis. You have enough gold to buy many sheep and many camels. +You’ll marry Fatima, and you’ll both be happy for a year. You’ll learn +to love the desert, and you’ll get to know every one of the fifty +thousand palms. You’ll watch them as they grow, demonstrating +how the world is always changing. And you’ll get better and better +at understanding omens, because the desert is the best teacher +there is. +“Sometime during the second year, you’ll remember about the +treasure. The omens will begin insistently to speak of it, and you’ll +try to ignore them. You’ll use your knowledge for the welfare of the +oasis and its inhabitants. The tribal chieftains will appreciate what +you do. And your camels will bring you wealth and power. +“During the third year, the omens will continue to speak of your +treasure and your Personal Legend. You’ll walk around, night after +night, at the oasis, and Fatima will be unhappy because she’ll feel it +was she who interrupted your quest. But you will love her, and +she’ll return your love. You’ll remember that she never asked you to +stay, because a woman of the desert knows that she must await her +man. So you won’t blame her. But many times you’ll walk the sands +of the desert, thinking that maybe you could have left…that you +could have trusted more in your love for Fatima. Because what kept +you at the oasis was your own fear that you might never come back. +At that point, the omens will tell you that your treasure is buried +forever. +“Then, sometime during the fourth year, the omens will abandon +you, because you’ve stopped listening to them. The tribal chieftains +will see that, and you’ll be dismissed from your position as +counselor. But, by then, you’ll be a rich merchant, with many camels +and a great deal of merchandise. You’ll spend the rest of your days +knowing that you didn’t pursue your Personal Legend, and that now +it’s too late. +“You must understand that love never keeps a man from +pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit, it’s +because it wasn’t true love…the love that speaks the Language of +the World.” +The alchemist erased the circle in the sand, and the snake +slithered away among the rocks. The boy remembered the crystal +merchant who had always wanted to go to Mecca, and the +Englishman in search of the alchemist. He thought of the woman +who had trusted in the desert. And he looked out over the desert +that had brought him to the woman he loved. +They mounted their horses, and this time it was the boy who +followed the alchemist back to the oasis. The wind brought the +sounds of the oasis to them, and the boy tried to hear Fatima’s voice. +But that night, as he had watched the cobra within the circle, the +strange horseman with the falcon on his shoulder had spoken of +love and treasure, of the women of the desert and of his Personal +Legend. +“I’m going with you,” the boy said. And he immediately felt peace +in his heart. +“We’ll leave tomorrow before sunrise,” was the alchemist’s only +response. +THE BOY SPENT A SLEEPLESS NIGHT. TWO HOURS BEFORE dawn, he awoke +one of the boys who slept in his tent, and asked him to show him +where Fatima lived. They went to her tent, and the boy gave his +friend enough gold to buy a sheep. +Then he asked his friend to go into the tent where Fatima was +sleeping, and to awaken her and tell her that he was waiting outside. +The young Arab did as he was asked, and was given enough gold to +buy yet another sheep. +“Now leave us alone,” said the boy to the young Arab. The Arab +returned to his tent to sleep, proud to have helped the counselor of +the oasis, and happy at having enough money to buy himself some +sheep. +Fatima appeared at the entrance to the tent. The two walked out +among the palms. The boy knew that it was a violation of the +Tradition, but that didn’t matter to him now. +“I’m going away,” he said. “And I want you to know that I’m +coming back. I love you because…” +“Don’t say anything,” Fatima interrupted. “One is loved because +one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” +But the boy continued, “I had a dream, and I met with a king. I +sold crystal and crossed the desert. And, because the tribes declared +war, I went to the well, seeking the alchemist. So, I love you because +the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” +The two embraced. It was the first time either had touched the +other. +“I’ll be back,” the boy said. +“Before this, I always looked to the desert with longing,” said +Fatima. “Now it will be with hope. My father went away one day, but +he returned to my mother, and he has always come back since +then.” +They said nothing else. They walked a bit farther among the +palms, and then the boy left her at the entrance to her tent. +“I’ll return, just as your father came back to your mother,” he +said. +He saw that Fatima’s eyes were filled with tears. +“You’re crying?” +“I’m a woman of the desert,” she said, averting her face. “But +above all, I’m a woman.” +Fatima went back to her tent, and, when daylight came, she went +out to do the chores she had done for years. But everything had +changed. The boy was no longer at the oasis, and the oasis would +never again have the same meaning it had had only yesterday. It +would no longer be a place with fifty thousand palm trees and three +hundred wells, where the pilgrims arrived, relieved at the end of +their long journeys. From that day on, the oasis would be an empty +place for her. +
+ + +