The Secret of Happiness

"A shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest sage in the world.

The boy wandered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high on top of a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

Rather than finding a saintly man, the boy, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity. Tradesmen and women were coming in and going out. People stood in small groups conversing in the corner. A small orchestra was playing soft music. There was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world.

The wise man was chatting with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to see the wise man. When they finally met, the wise man listened attentively to the boy’s explanation of why he had come. The wise man told him that it was not the right time to explain the secret of happiness.

He suggested that the boy first look around his palace and return in two hours. “Meanwhile I want to ask you to do something,” said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. "As you wander around, carry this spoon with you and make sure you do not spill the oil."

The boy began ascending and descending the many flight of stairs in the palace. He kept his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was. “Well,” asked the wise man, “did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchment in my library?”

The boy was embarrassed. He confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“Then go back and observe the marvels of my world,” said the wise man.

Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace. This time, he observed all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which everything had been selected. When he returned to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

“But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?” asked the wise man. Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

"The secret of happiness," the wise man explained, "is in seeing all the marvels of the world around you while still remaining focused on the things that are most important to you in life."

Extracted from the novel on ”The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho.