They rode for the entire day. Toward the end of the afternoon, they came upon a Coptic . The alchemist dismounted, and told the escorts they could return to the camp. "From here on, you will be alone," the alchemist said. "You are only three hours from the Pyramids."
"Thank you," said the boy. "You taught me the Language of the World."
"I only what you already knew."
The alchemist knocked on the gate of the monastery. A dressed in black came to the gates. They for a few minutes in the Coptic tongue, and the alchemist bade the boy enter.
"I asked him to let me use the kitchen for a while," the alchemist smiled.
They went to the kitchen at the back of the monastery. The alchemist lighted the fire, and the monk brought him some lead, which the alchemist placed in an iron pan. When the lead had become liquid, the alchemist took from his the strange yellow egg. He scraped from it a as thin as a hair, wrapped it in wax, and added it to the pan in which the lead had melted.
The mixture took on a reddish color, almost the color of blood. The alchemist removed the pan from the fire, and set it aside to cool. As he did so, he talked with the monk about the wars.
"I think they're going to last for a long time," he said to the monk.
The monk was irritated. The had been stopped at Giza for some time, waiting for the wars to end. "But God's will be done," the monk said.
"Exactly," answered the alchemist.
When the pan had cooled, the monk and the boy looked at it, dazzled. The lead had dried into the shape of the pan, but it was no longer lead. It was gold.
"Will I learn to do that someday?" the boy asked.
"This was my destiny, not yours," the alchemist answered. "But I wanted to show you that it was possible."
They returned to the gates of the monastery. There, the alchemist separated the disk into four parts.
"This is for you," he said, holding one of the parts out to the monk. "It's for your to the pilgrims."
"But this payment goes well beyond my generosity," the monk responded.
"Don't say that again. Life might be listening, and give you less the next time."
The alchemist turned to the boy. "This is for you. To make up for what you gave to the general."
The boy was about to say that it was much more than he had given the general. But he kept quiet, because he had heard what the alchemist said to the monk.
"And this is for me," said the alchemist, keeping one of the parts. "Because I have to return to the desert, where there are tribal wars."
He took the fourth part and handed it to the monk.
"This is for the boy. If he ever needs it."
"But I'm going in search of my treasure," the boy said. "I'm very close to it now."
"And I'm certain you'll find it," the alchemist said.
"Then why this?"
"Because you have already lost your twice. Once to the thief, and once to the general. I'm an old, Arab, and I believe in our proverbs. There's one that says, 'Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.' " They mounted their horses.
 
 
 "I want to tell you a story about dreams," said the alchemist.
The boy brought his horse closer.
"In ancient Rome, at the time of Emperor Tiberius, there lived a good man who had two sons. One was in the military, and had been sent to the most distant regions of the empire. The other son was a poet, and delighted all of Rome with his beautiful verses.
"One night, the father had a dream. An angel appeared to him, and told him that the words of one of his sons would be learned and repeated throughout the world for all generations to come. The father woke from his dream grateful and crying, because life was generous, and had revealed to him something any father would be proud to know.
"Shortly thereafter, the father died as he tried to save a child who was about to be crushed by the wheels of a chariot. Since he had lived his entire life in a manner that was correct and fair, he went directly to heaven, where he met the angel that had appeared in his dream.
" 'You were always a good man,' the angel said to him. 'You lived your life in a loving way, and died with dignity. I can now grant you any wish you desire.'
" 'Life was good to me,' the man said. 'When you appeared in my dream, I felt that all my efforts had been rewarded, because my son's poems will be read by men for generations to come. I don't want anything for myself. But any father would be proud of the fame achieved by one whom he had cared for as a child, and educated as he grew up. Sometime in the distant future, I would like to see my son's words.'
"The angel touched the man's shoulder, and they were both projected far into the future. They were in an immense setting, surrounded by thousands of people speaking a strange language.
"The man wept with happiness.
" 'I knew that my son's poems were immortal,' he said to the angel through his tears. 'Can you please tell me which of my son's poems these people are repeating?'
"The angel came closer to the man, and, with tenderness, led him to a bench nearby, where they sat down.
"'The verses of your son who was the poet were very popular in Rome,' the angel said. 'Everyone loved them and enjoyed them. But when the of Tiberius ended, his poems were forgotten. The words you're hearing now are those of your son in the military.'
"The man looked at the angel in surprise.
" 'Your son went to serve at a distant place, and became a . He was just and good. One afternoon, one of his servants fell ill, and it appeared that he would die. Your son had heard of a rabbi who was able to cure illnesses, and he rode out for days and days in search of this man. Along the way, he learned that the man he was seeking was the Son of God. He met others who had been cured by him, and they instructed your son in the man's teachings. And so, despite the fact that he was a Roman centurion, he converted to their faith. Shortly thereafter, he reached the place where the man he was looking for was visiting.'
" 'He told the man that one of his servants was gravely ill, and the rabbi made ready to go to his house with him. But the centurion was a man of faith, and, looking into the eyes of the rabbi, he knew that he was surely in the presence o............