The Coptic Monk
A very important but short piece in the writing. Santiago and the alchemist stop at the monastery, and the monk invites them in. This is considered a very important point in the plot, as this is where the alchemist produces gold from a pan of lead (which the monk provides), separates the disk into four parts, gives one to the monk, one to himself, and essentially two to Santiago. The monk tries to refuse the offering, but the alchemist tells him that “life may be listening, and give [you] less the next time”. Afterward, when Santiago crawls back beaten and elated from the Pyramids, the monk gives him the other part of the gold disk and helps him recover.