Page 7 - The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

There was a small building there, with a window at which people bought tickets to
Africa. And he knew that Egypt was in Africa...While standing at the ticket window, the
boy had remembered his flock, and decided he should go back to being a shepherd. In
two years he had learned everything about shepherding: he knew how to shear sheep,
how to care for pregnant ewes, and how to protect the sheep from wolves. He knew all
the fields and pastures of Andalusia. And he knew what was the fair price for every one
of his animals.

The wind began to pick up, He knew that wind: people called it the levanter, because on
it the Moors had come from the Levant at the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

The levanter increased in intensity. Here I am, between my flock and my treasure, the
boy thought. He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and
something he wanted to have. There was also the merchant’s daughter, but she wasn’t as
important as his flock, because she didn’t depend on him. Maybe she didn’t even
remember him. He was sure that it made no difference to her on which day he appeared:
for her, every day was the same, and when each day is the same as the next, it’s because
people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun
rises.

“That baker...” he said to himself, without completing the thought. The levanter was still
getting stronger, and he felt its force on his face. That wind had brought the Moors, yes,
but it had also brought the smell of the desert and of veiled women. It had brought with it
the sweat and the dreams of men who had once left to search for the unknown, and for
gold and adventure—and for the Pyramids. The boy felt jealous of the freedom of the
wind, and saw that he could have the same freedom. There was nothing to hold him back
except himself. The sheep, the merchant’s daughter, and the fields of Andalusia were
only steps along the way to his Personal Legend.

The next day, the boy met the old man at noon. He brought six sheep with him.

“I’m surprised,” the boy said. “My friend bought all the other sheep immediately. He said
that he had always dreamed of being a shepherd, and that it was a good omen.”

“That’s the way it always is,” said the old man. “It’s called the principle of favorability.
When you play cards the first time, you are almost sure to win. Beginner’s luck.”

“Why is that?”

“Because there is a force that wants you to realize your Personal Legend; it whets your
appetite with a taste of success.”