+ The Arabs laughed at him, and the alchemist laughed along. They +thought his answer was amusing, and they allowed the boy and the +alchemist to proceed with all of their belongings. +“Are you crazy?” the boy asked the alchemist, when they had +moved on. “What did you do that for?” +“To show you one of life’s simple lessons,” the alchemist +answered. “When you possess great treasures within you, and try to +tell others of them, seldom are you believed.” +They continued across the desert. With every day that passed, +the boy’s heart became more and more silent. It no longer wanted to +know about things of the past or future; it was content simply to +contemplate the desert, and to drink with the boy from the Soul of +the World. The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither +was capable now of betraying the other. +When his heart spoke to him, it was to provide a stimulus to the +boy, and to give him strength, because the days of silence there in +the desert were wearisome. His heart told the boy what his +strongest qualities were: his courage in having given up his sheep +and in trying to live out his Personal Legend, and his enthusiasm +during the time he had worked at the crystal shop. +And his heart told him something else that the boy had never +noticed: it told the boy of dangers that had threatened him, but that +he had never perceived. His heart said that one time it had hidden +the rifle the boy had taken from his father, because of the possibility +that the boy might wound himself. And it reminded the boy of the +day when he had been ill and vomiting out in the fields, after which +he had fallen into a deep sleep. There had been two thieves farther +ahead who were planning to steal the boy’s sheep and murder him. +But, since the boy hadn’t passed by, they had decided to move on, +thinking that he had changed his route. +“Does a man’s heart always help him?” the boy asked the +alchemist. +“Mostly just the hearts of those who are trying to realize their +Personal Legends. But they do help children, drunkards, and the +elderly, too.” +“Does that mean that I’ll never run into danger?” +“It means only that the heart does what it can,” the alchemist +said. +One afternoon, they passed by the encampment of one of the +tribes. At each corner of the camp were Arabs garbed in beautiful +white robes, with arms at the ready. The men were smoking their +hookahs and trading stories from the battlefield. No one paid any +attention to the two travelers. +“There’s no danger,” the boy said, when they had moved on past +the encampment. +The alchemist sounded angry: “Trust in your heart, but never +forget that you’re in the desert. When men are at war with one +another, the Soul of the World can hear the screams of battle. No +one fails to suffer the consequences of everything under the sun.” +All things are one, the boy thought. And then, as if the desert +wanted to demonstrate that the alchemist was right, two horsemen +appeared from behind the travelers. +“You can’t go any farther,” one of them said. “You’re in the area +where the tribes are at war.” +“I’m not going very far,” the alchemist answered, looking +straight into the eyes of the horsemen. They were silent for a +moment, and then agreed that the boy and the alchemist could +move along. +The boy watched the exchange with fascination. “You dominated +those horsemen with the way you looked at them,” he said. +“Your eyes show the strength of your soul,” answered the +alchemist. +That’s true, the boy thought. He had noticed that, in the midst of +the multitude of armed men back at the encampment, there had +been one who stared fixedly at the two. He had been so far away +that his face wasn’t even visible. But the boy was certain that he had +been looking at them. +Finally, when they had crossed the mountain range that +extended along the entire horizon, the alchemist said that they were +only two days from the Pyramids. +“If we’re going to go our separate ways soon,” the boy said, “then +teach me about alchemy.” +“You already know about alchemy. It is about penetrating to the +Soul of the World, and discovering the treasure that has been +reserved for you.” +“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about transforming lead +into gold.” +The alchemist fell as silent as the desert, and answered the boy +only after they had stopped to eat. +“Everything in the universe evolved,” he said. “And, for wise +men, gold is the metal that evolved the furthest. Don’t ask me why; I +don’t know why. I just know that the Tradition is always right. +“Men have never understood the words of the wise. So gold, +instead of being seen as a symbol of evolution, became the basis for +conflict.” +“There are many languages spoken by things,” the boy said. +“There was a time when, for me, a camel’s whinnying was nothing +more than whinnying. Then it became a signal of danger. And, +finally, it became just a whinny again.” +But then he stopped. The alchemist probably already knew all +that. +
+ + +