+ THE BOY RODE ALONG THROUGH THE DESERT FOR SEVERAL hours, listening +avidly to what his heart had to say. It was his heart that would tell +him where his treasure was hidden. +“Where your treasure is, there also will be your heart,” the +alchemist had told him. +But his heart was speaking of other things. With pride, it told the +story of a shepherd who had left his flock to follow a dream he had +on two different occasions. It told of Personal Legend, and of the +many men who had wandered in search of distant lands or beautiful +women, confronting the people of their times with their +preconceived notions. It spoke of journeys, discoveries, books, and +change. +As he was about to climb yet another dune, his heart whispered, +“Be aware of the place where you are brought to tears. That’s where +I am, and that’s where your treasure is.” +The boy climbed the dune slowly. A full moon rose again in the +starry sky: it had been a month since he had set forth from the oasis. +The moonlight cast shadows through the dunes, creating the +appearance of a rolling sea; it reminded the boy of the day when +that horse had reared in the desert, and he had come to know the +alchemist. And the moon fell on the desert’s silence, and on a man’s +journey in search of treasure. +When he reached the top of the dune, his heart leapt. There, +illuminated by the light of the moon and the brightness of the +desert, stood the solemn and majestic Pyramids of Egypt. +The boy fell to his knees and wept. He thanked God for making +him believe in his Personal Legend, and for leading him to meet a +king, a merchant, an Englishman, and an alchemist. And above all +for his having met a woman of the desert who had told him that love +would never keep a man from his Personal Legend. +If he wanted to, he could now return to the oasis, go back to +Fatima, and live his life as a simple shepherd. After all, the alchemist +continued to live in the desert, even though he understood the +Language of the World, and knew how to transform lead into gold. +He didn’t need to demonstrate his science and art to anyone. The +boy told himself that, on the way toward realizing his own Personal +Legend, he had learned all he needed to know, and had experienced +everything he might have dreamed of. +But here he was, at the point of finding his treasure, and he +reminded himself that no project is completed until its objective has +been achieved. The boy looked at the sands around him, and saw +that, where his tears had fallen, a scarab beetle was scuttling +through the sand. During his time in the desert, he had learned that, +in Egypt, the scarab beetles are a symbol of God. +Another omen! The boy began to dig into the dune. As he did so, +he thought of what the crystal merchant had once said: that anyone +could build a pyramid in his backyard. The boy could see now that +he couldn’t do so if he placed stone upon stone for the rest of his life. +Throughout the night, the boy dug at the place he had chosen, +but found nothing. He felt weighted down by the centuries of time +since the Pyramids had been built. But he didn’t stop. He struggled +to continue digging as he fought the wind, which often blew the +sand back into the excavation. His hands were abraded and +exhausted, but he listened to his heart. It had told him to dig where +his tears fell. +As he was attempting to pull out the rocks he encountered, he +heard footsteps. Several figures approached him. Their backs were +to the moonlight, and the boy could see neither their eyes nor their +faces. +“What are you doing here?” one of the figures demanded. +Because he was terrified, the boy didn’t answer. He had found +where his treasure was, and was frightened at what might happen. +“We’re refugees from the tribal wars, and we need money,” the +other figure said. “What are you hiding there?” +“I’m not hiding anything,” the boy answered. +But one of them seized the boy and yanked him back out of the +hole. Another, who was searching the boy’s bags, found the piece of +gold. +
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