The Alchemist is a bestseller that was first published in Brazil in 1988 and is the most famous work of author Paulo Coelho. It is a symbolic story that urges its readers to follow their dreams.
An alchemist traveling in a caravan in an unspecified place and time recounts a fable that he read along the way. The story is a modified version of the myth of Narcissus. The twist in this version is that the lake in which Narcissus drowns weeps for the death of Narcissus not because of his beauty, but because the lake could gaze at its own beauty .

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Excerpt from one of the readers reviews:
The "Narcissus" is as dense as poetry also, both allusive and elusive. You can read it as a grittily realistic adventure tale, or as a metaphysical poem of unfathomable depth. I chose to read it both ways. The adventure is a tale of misery and terror, while the little sailing vessel is half capsized in a sea of monstrous waves; like most adventures, it's something to laugh and brag about...after it's over. The metaphysical poem centers on the identity of James Wait, the man of color (if I typed the alternate word here, amazon would squeamishly suppress this review) who boards the ship at the last minute and who declares that he is ill unto death as soon as the ship leaves port. His presence, and that of the sour malcontent Donkin, nudge the crew toward mutiny as well as heroism. That crew is a colorful bunch, a diverse and well-individuated sampling of humanity; depth of character is Conrad's epic theme.