he became friendly with the camel driver who traveled alongside him. at night, as they sat around the fire, the boy related to the driver his adventures as a shepherd.
during one of these conversations, the driver told of his own life.
"i used to live near el cairum," he said. "i had my orchard, my children, and a life that would change not at all until i died. one year, when the crop was the best ever, we all went to mecca, and i satisfied the only unmet obligation in my life. i could die happily, and that made me feel good.
"one day, the earth began to tremble, and the nile overflowed its banks. it was something that i thought could happen only to others, never to me. my neighbors feared they would lose all their olive trees in the flood, and my wife was afraid that we would lose our children. i thought that everything i owned would be destroyed.
"the land was ruined, and i had to find some other way to earn a living. so now i'm a camel driver. but that disaster taught me to understand the word of allah: people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want.
"we are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. but this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand."
sometimes, their caravan met with another. one always had something that the other needed—as if everything were indeed written by one hand. as they sat around the fire, the camel drivers exchanged information about windstorms, and told stories about the desert.
at other times, mysterious, hooded men would appear; they were bedouins who did surveillance along the caravan route. they provided warnings about thieves and barbarian tribes. they came in silence and departed the same way, dressed in black garments that showed only their eyes. one night, a camel driver came to the fire where the englishman and the boy were sitting. "there are rumors of tribal wars," he told them.
the three fell silent. the boy noted that there was a sense of fear in the air, even though no one said anything. once again he was experiencing the language without words… the universal language.
the englishman asked if they were in danger.
"once you get into the desert, there's no going back," said the camel driver. "and, when you can't go back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward. the rest is up to allah, including the danger."
and he concluded by saying the mysterious word: "maktub."
"you should pay more attention to the caravan," the boy said to the englishman, after the camel driver had left. "we make a lot of detours, but we're always heading for the same destination."
"and you ought to read more about the world," answered the englishman. "books are like caravans in that respect."
the immense collection of people and animals began to travel faster. the days had always been silent, but now, even the nights—when the travelers were accustomed to talking around the fires—had also become quiet. and, one day, the leader of the caravan made the decision that the fires should no longer be lighted, so as not to attract attention to the caravan.
the travelers adopted the practice of arranging the animals in a circle at night, sleeping together in the center as protection against the nocturnal cold. and the leader posted armed sentinels at the fringes of the group.
the englishman was unable to sleep one night. he called to the boy, and they took a walk along the dunes surrounding the encampment. there was a full moon, and the boy told the englishman the story of his life.
the englishman was fascinated with the part about the progress achieved at the crystal shop after the boy began working there.
"that's the principle that governs all things," he said. "in alchemy, it's called the soul of the world. when you want something with all your heart, that's when you are closest to the soul of the world. it's always a positive force."
he also said that this was not just a human gift, that everything on the face of the earth had a soul, whether mineral, vegetable, or animal—or even just a simple thought.
"everything on earth is being continuously transformed, because the earth is alive… and it has a soul. we are part of that soul, so we rarely recognize that it is working for us. but in the crystal shop you probably realized that even the glasses were collaborating in your success."
the boy thought about that for a while as he looked at the moon and the bleached sands. "i have watched the caravan as it crossed the desert," he said. "the caravan and the desert speak the same language, and it's for that reason that the desert allows the crossing. it's going to test the caravan's every step to see if it's in time, and, if it is, we will make it to the oasis."
"if either of us had joined this caravan based only on personal courage, but without understanding that language, this journey would have been much more difficult."
they stood there looking at the moon.
"that's the magic of omens," said the boy. "i've seen how the guides read the signs of the desert, and how the soul of the caravan speaks to the soul of the desert."
the englishman said, "i'd better pay more attention to the caravan."
"and i'd better read your books," said the boy.
they were strange books. they spoke about mercury, salt, dragons, and kings, and he didn't understand any of it. but there was one idea that seemed to repeat itself throughout all the books: all things are the manifestation of one thing only.
in one of the books he learned that the most important text in the literature of alchemy contained only a few lines, and had been inscribed on the surface of an emerald.
"it's the emerald tablet," said the englishman, proud that he might teach something to the boy.
"well, then, why do we need all these books?" the boy asked.
"so that we can understand those few lines," the englishman answered, without appearing really to believe what he had said.
the book that most interested the boy told the stories of the famous alchemists. they were men who had dedicated their entire lives to the purification of metals in their laboratories; they believed that, if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the soul of the world. this soul of the world allowed them to understand anything on the face of the earth, because it was the language with which all things communicated. they called that discovery the master work—it was part liquid and part solid.
"can't you just observe men and omens in order to understand the language?" the boy asked.
"you have a mania for simplifying everything," answered the englishman, irritated. "alchemy is a serious discipline. every step has to be followed exactly as it was followed by the masters."
the boy learned that the liquid part of the master work was called the elixir of life, and that it cured all illnesses; it also kept the alchemist from growing old. and the solid part was called the philosopher's stone.
"it's not easy to find the philosopher's stone," said the englishman. "the alchemists spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. they spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. they discovered that the purification of the metals had led to a purification of themselves."
the boy thought about the crystal merchant. he had said that it was a good thing for the boy to clean the crystal pieces, so that he could free himself from negative thoughts. the boy was becoming more and more convinced that alchemy could be learned in one's daily life.
"also," said the englishman, "the philosopher's stone has a fascinating property. a small sliver of the stone can transform large quantities of metal into gold."
having heard that, the boy became even more interested in alchemy. he thought that, with some patience, he'd be able to transform everything into gold. he read the lives of the various people who had succeeded in doing so: helv?tius, elias, fulcanelli, and geber. they were fascinating stories: each of them lived out his destiny to the end. they traveled, spoke with wise men, performed miracles for the incredulous, and owned the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life.
but when the boy wanted to learn how to achieve the master work, he became completely lost. there were just drawings, coded instructions, and obscure texts.
"why do they make things so complicated?" he asked the englishman one night. the boy had noticed that the englishman was irritable, and missed his books.
"so that those who have the responsibility for understanding can understand," he said. "imagine if everyone went around transforming lead into gold. gold would lose its value.
"it's only those who are persistent, and willing to study things deeply, who achieve the master work. that's why i'm here in the middle of the desert. i'm seeking a true alchemist who will help me to decipher the codes."
"when were these books written?" the boy asked.
"many centuries ago."
"they didn't have the printing press in those days," the boy argued. "there was no way for everybody to know about alchemy. why did they use such strange language, with so many drawings?"
the englishman didn't answer him directly. he said that for the past few days he had been paying attention to how the caravan operated, but that he hadn't learned anything new. the only thing he had noticed was that talk of war was becoming more and more frequent.
