Resumo de The Fifth Mountain

Probably Paulo Coelho's best work ever, the fifth mountain has all the drama and intrigue a person could wish for. It is story of a young prophet, Elijah who goes through many trials to fulfill the commands of God. His main purpose, was to overthrow the Phoenician Princess, Jezebel, who had recently married the king of Israel. As soon as Jezebel married the king, she, along with the husband, started to promote her Pheonician gods in Israel by building temples. One day, Elijah heard the voice of the angel of God, who told him to go to the King and tell him to stop promoting the Pheonician gods or else there would be no rain for years. Elijah does as he is asked but his request to the king falls on deaf ears. The king, instead of banning the Pheonician gods, ordered all the Prophets in Israel to be slayed if they did not give up their God. Ofcourse the Princess had a hand behind all this. It was she who sent orders to find Elijah and slay him, whether he converted or not.
Now, the story begins in Israel, the homeland of Elijah. He is hiding from his persuers but one of them, a fine marksman, eventually finds him and send an arrow towards him. God interferes and the arrow misses its mark, and the marksman, who had never missed a single shot lets Elijah go. At that moment Elijah realizes that God wants him to live and overthrow Jezebel from the crown. He flees from his beloved homeland where he used to be a carpenter, and heads towards the desert. Jezebels men were still hunting Elijah who was sure that he would die because there was no food in the desert. But again God came to his help and a crow was sent to him everyday who used to bring him food. After some days an angel came to Elijah and told him to go to Lebanon, to a beautiful town of Akbar. He also tells him that once there he will find a woman who would take care of him and provide him with food and as long as he stayed with her there would be no lack of food.
Elijah reached Akbar and finds the woman and her son. Elijah soon becomes a part of the everyday life of Akbar, until the woman's son falls sick. The the rumors start that the Pheonician gods, that lived on top of the Fifth mountain in Akbar, were angry with the woman because she took in an Israeli who beleived in one God only. The woman's son dies eventually and the town Priest along with the people decides that Elijah should be sent to the top of the fifth mountain. There was a beleif among the people of Akbar that the Pheonician gods reside on the top of the fifth mountain and any one who tries to climb the mountain would be struck by fire and killed. When he is almost to the top of the mountain, the angel of the Lord appears and tells him how he can bring the dead boy back to life. Elijah returns to the foot of the hill and requests the amazed croud gathered there to let him go to the womans house one last time. Elijah does as commanded by God and the boy comes to life. After that the people accepted him as a part of their everyday lives.
During all this, the enemy's army has been gathering on the outskirts of Akbar and the threat of a war between the two peoples increased everyday. One day an enemy commander came to Akbar to negotiate but the people of Akbar sentenced him to death. Elijah tried his best to prevent this murder as he knew that if the commander was saved, the war could be put off. When the army gets to know of the sentence they declare war and attack Akbar at night when everyone was asleep. Taken unawares, the young Akbarites took out their weapons and sheilds and prayed to their Pheonician gods for their safety. Unfortunately they were greatly outnumbered by the enemy and the whole army was destroyed. The enmy took over Akbar and destroyed almost everything. When Elijah woke tha night he realized that the house was burning and there were people by his bedside. These soldiers of the enemy were there because some people had told them that he was the governor of Akbar so that the real Governocould escape unharmed. The soldiers pull him out of the house and Elijah, although he can hear the woman that he had come to love screaming, could do nothing to save her from a cruel death.
Another miracle occurs and the soldiers let Elijah go without killing him. The boy also survived the attack as well as some of the older town folk and women. Elijah thought it was his duty to rebuild the city of Akbar and make it beautiful in memory of the woman he had loved. In time, Akbar is rebuilt and Elijah made the governor. When the enemy forces return to Akbar, they were defeated because of the brilliant strategies enforced by Elijah. He then returns to Palestine and eventually manages to overthrow the Pheonician princess Jezebel.
All in all, this amazing story is a must read for everyone.

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