The Alchemist

An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago dreams of a treasure while
in a ruined church. He consults a Gypsy fortune-teller about the meaning
of the recurring dream. The woman interprets it as a prophecy, telling the
boy that he will discover a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids.
After Santiago sets out, he meets Melchizedek, the king of Salem, who
tells him to sell his sheep so as to travel to Egypt and accomplish his
"Personal Legend". Early on his arrival in Africa, a man who claims to be
able to take Santiago to the pyramids instead robs him of the money he
had made from his flock. Santiago then has to work for a crystal
merchant to earn enough to continue his journey.
Along the way, the boy meets an Englishman who has come in search of
an alchemist who can turn any metal to gold, and continues his travels
with his new companion. When they reach an oasis, Santiago meets and
falls in love with an Arabian girl named Fatima, to whom he proposes
marriage. She promises to marry him only after he completes his journey.
Frustrated at first, he later learns that true love will not stop nor must one
sacrifice one's destiny to it, since to do so robs it of truth.
The boy then encounters the wise alchemist, who teaches him to realize
his true self. Together, they risk a journey through the territory of
warring tribes, where Santiago is forced to demonstrate his oneness with
the "Soul of the World" by turning himself into a dust storm before he is
allowed to proceed.
When he reaches the pyramids and begins digging, he is robbed by
thieves, who ask him what he is digging for; he replies that a dream has
led him to buried treasure. The thieves scoff, and the leader remarks
about a dream he once had about treasure under a tree at a ruined church.
Santiago realizes the treasure he sought was where he had his original
dream all along.