The Alchemist is a story of a shepherd boy named Santiago who travels around Andalusia with his flock.One night while sleeping beneath a sycamore tree,he had a recurring dream about a boy telling that he will find a hidden treasure if he travels to Egypt pyramids.Santiago meets an old woman who possess some black magical powers, assures him that the dream is prophetic and try to persuade it.But Santiago is uncertain of it.

 Melchizedek,the king of Salem reads Santiago's mind and teaches him the good and bad omens that he might come across in his way to pursue his dream Melchizedek then gives Santiago two stones, Urim and Thummim, with which to interpret omens..Selling off the flock,Santiago starts his journey to Tangier(northern Africa) by boat.Santiago losts all his money in a theft in Tangier.Later he starts working under a crystal merchant to earn enough money to return back to Andalusia and buy a flock .

 After working for 11 months and earning enough money,on the advice of crystal merchant,Santiago feels to give a try to pursue his dream and joins a caravan travelling to Egypt.In the caravan,Santiago befriends a Englishman who wants to learn the secret of alchemy from the famous alchemist in the oasis.While travelling in the desert,Santiago starts listening to the desert and discovering the SOUL OF THE WORLD.After reaching an oasis,Santiago falls in love with an Arab girl.In the oasis while walking ,Santiago on seeing two hawk fighting has a vision of  an army entering the oasis (tribal warfare).He shares his vision with the caravan chief ,which  however became true when an army attacked them.Soon after that incident, Santiago is confronted by a black-garbed, veiled stranger with a sword, who sits atop a white horse,THE ALCHEMIST.

         The Alchemist teaches Santiago,the Soul of the World and helps him to escape from the intense tribal warfares where they got captivated by them and to reach the Egyptian pyramids. The alchemist tells Santiago that he needs to return to the oasis, and that the rest of the trip is Santiago's to make alone so that he can claim his Personal Legend.Santiago arrives at the Egyptian pyramids and begins to dig. He finds nothing buried in the ground. Thieves beat Santiago and rob him of his money. After he tells them of his dream, though, one of the thieves recounts his own dream about a buried treasure in the sacristy of an abandoned church.Santiago returns back to the same place where his dream started,Andalusia church and started to dig the area where he slept in that church.And their he found HIS TREASURE