The Alchemist

As part of a caravan, the alchemist picks up someone’s book and reads a story about Narcissus. The typical ending of the legend is changed; a goddess appears and talks to the lake in which Narcissus drowned. The lake weeps for Narcissus because it saw “in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected” (8). The alchemist thinks this is a “lovely story” (8).

A shepherd boy named Santiago arrives with his herd at an abandoned church in Andalusia. He spends the night inside with his sheep, using a recently-read book as a pillow. Awaking just before a familiar dream ends, it is still night. Santiago wakes his flock; he has become “accustomed to their schedule” (10). Believing that the sheep understand his words, he speaks to them, usually about his books, his loneliness, or his happiness. This time he tells them about a girl—the daughter of a merchant in a village they will reach in four days’ time.

Santiago met the merchant a year ago. While he waited to shear his sheep in the man’s presence, the girl found him reading a book. They had talked for two hours.