At the start of his journey, when Santiago asks a gypsy woman to interpret his dream about
a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, she asks for onetenth of the treasure in return. When
Santiago asks the old man to show him the path to the treasure, the old man requests onetenth
of his flock as “payment.” Both payments represent a different price we have to pay to
fulfill a dream; however, only one will yield a true result. Which payment represents false
hope? Can you think of examples from you own life when you had to give up something to
meet a goal and found the price too high?