+ So his heart was quiet for an entire afternoon. That night, the +boy slept deeply, and, when he awoke, his heart began to tell him +things that came from the Soul of the World. It said that all people +who are happy have God within them. And that happiness could be +found in a grain of sand from the desert, as the alchemist had said. +Because a grain of sand is a moment of creation, and the universe +has taken millions of years to create it. “Everyone on earth has a +treasure that awaits him,” his heart said. “We, people’s hearts, +seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer +want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. +Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its +own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for +them—the path to their Personal Legends, and to happiness. Most +people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, +the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place. +“So, we, their hearts, speak more and more softly. We never stop +speaking out, but we begin to hope that our words won’t be heard: +we don’t want people to suffer because they don’t follow their +hearts.” +“Why don’t people’s hearts tell them to continue to follow their +dreams?” the boy asked the alchemist. +“Because that’s what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts don’t +like to suffer.” +From then on, the boy understood his heart. He asked it, please, +never to stop speaking to him. He asked that, when he wandered far +from his dreams, his heart press him and sound the alarm. The boy +swore that, every time he heard the alarm, he would heed its +message. +That night, he told all of this to the alchemist. And the alchemist +understood that the boy’s heart had returned to the Soul of the +World. +“So what should I do now?” the boy asked. +“Continue in the direction of the Pyramids,” said the alchemist. +“And continue to pay heed to the omens. Your heart is still capable +of showing you where the treasure is.” +“Is that the one thing I still needed to know?” +“No,” the alchemist answered. “What you still need to know is +this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests +everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because +it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, +master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that +dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point +at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst +just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.’ +“Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search +ends with the victor’s being severely tested.” +The boy remembered an old proverb from his country. It said +that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn. +ON THE FOLLOWING DAY, THE FIRST CLEAR SIGN OF danger appeared. +Three armed tribesmen approached, and asked what the boy and +the alchemist were doing there. +“I’m hunting with my falcon,” the alchemist answered. +“We’re going to have to search you to see whether you’re +armed,” one of the tribesmen said. +The alchemist dismounted slowly, and the boy did the same. +“Why are you carrying money?” asked the tribesman, when he +had searched the boy’s bag. +“I need it to get to the Pyramids,” he said. +The tribesman who was searching the alchemist’s belongings +found a small crystal flask filled with a liquid, and a yellow glass egg +that was slightly larger than a chicken’s egg. +“What are these things?” he asked. +“That’s the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life. It’s the +Master Work of the alchemists. Whoever swallows that elixir will +never be sick again, and a fragment from that stone turns any metal +into gold.” +
+ + +