Alchemist

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho

Translated by Alan R. Clarke. Published 1992. ISBN 0-7225-3293-8.

PART ONE

The boy's name was Santiago. Dusk was falling as the boy arrived with his herd(

A large group of animals that live together or are kept together as livestock) |

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at an abandoned( unused) church. The roof had fallen in long ago, and an enormous(Very large in size) sycamore(American plane tree) had grown on the spot where the sacristy(A room in a church where a priest prepares for a service had once )stood.

He decided to spend the night there. He saw to it that all the sheep entered through the

ruined gate, and then laid some planks( long, thin, flat piece of timber,) across it to prevent the flock from wandering away during the night. There were no wolves in the region, but once an animal had strayed(Move without a specific purpose or by mistake) during the night, and the boy had had to spend the entire next day searching for it.

He swept the floor with his jacket and lay down, using the book he had just finished

reading as a pillow. He told himself that he would have to start reading thicker books:

they lasted longer, and made more comfortable pillows.

It was still dark when he awoke, and, looking up, he could see the stars through the half-destroyed roof.

I wanted to sleep a little longer, he thought. He had had the same dream that night as a

week ago, and once again he had awakened before it ended.

He arose and, taking up his crook(The hooked staff of a shepherd), began to awaken the sheep that still slept. He had noticed that, as soon as he awoke, most of his animals also began to stir(A slight physical movement). It was as if some mysterious energy bound his life to that of the sheep, with whom he had spent the past two years, leading them through the countryside in search of food and water. "They are so used to me that they know my schedule," he muttered(Say something in a low or barely audible voice,). Thinking about that for a...