The Ten Porters
Hot and tiresome. These were the two feelings that Malkut had experienced ever since he set foot on this incredible journey across the Great Desert, with a cubical stone of 50 pounds in tow. He wasn't highly educated or wealthy except in regards to architecture and building, a craft plied for many generations by the stone-cutters in his village of Namalah . Then again, his small village of Namalah, so named for their commitment to hard work and toil had specialized at fashioning stones for the creation of temples, fortresses and walls- but they had always had more building material than they needed and not enough people to enjoy their work. When the King demanded that each of the cities in his realm pay tribute the people of Namalah had nothing to pay him tribute with- nothing of wealth or power or prestige. Except for a perfectly-cut stone that Malkut had spent months designing.
Now, the wolf needed to make a delivery across the desert to the Capitol city and give his tribute,as plain and impractical as it may be. How else would the King, a powerful leopard whose domestic policy never sheathed its claws, not destroy the small village which had nothing of worth and few people to defend it? It was literally all they could do to send Malkut across the desert to give tribute and it was not a very good one at that.
But they sent Malkut alone and soon the wolf, even though he was wearing light clothes and the prayers of an entire village behind him, collapsed underneath the blazing sun. His tongue drooped out of his muzzle as the bright and hot sun forced him into submission, amidst an ocean of lifeless sand next to the stone he had been carrying for an eternity. "There is nothing here. I will die and for want of a tribute, the king shall thunder across these plains with his chariots and mighty men and destroy my city. And everyone will blame me. Somebody HELP ME!"
And then he saw another figure drawing closer whose clothes were brighter than even the desert sun and were white as milk. As the figure grew closer and closer, Malkut the wolf could make out that he was a lion. He knew there were bandits who would be willing to prey on the weak in spite of everything the king had done in the desert stretches of his kingdom. But there was something different about this desert traveler. The lion seemed kinder and gentler than the average desert bandit.
"Malkut, I know what has happened and I know you have a very important duty ahead of you in saving your village. My friends and I, we heard your cry for help and we will assist you in any way." Just standing next to this lion gave Malkut the strength to stand and allowed him to shut out the fears that he was standing next to someone who already knew his name without first meeting him.
"This stone is meant as tribute for the King- a block of little significance from a town of little significance meant for a castle wall, or a temple, or a palace, or I don't know. But it must be delivered if for no other reason than to prove we love the King and to escape his mighty army," the wolf said, almost begging for aid from the lion stranger who had pretty much saved his life. The group was joined by nine more, all different species but each was wearing clothing in colors which differed from each other, and amongst the nine a few of them were female. But all were very strong and for them carrying a 50-pound block of stone would not be that difficult.
"Yes, Malkut we will do as you instruct but when we reach our destination you must pay us. And you must never ask us who our true identities are until after we reach the city or you will have to carry the block to the city again as you were doing earlier." And with that condition in mind, Malkut started walking again, with as much vigor and strength as the moment he left Namalah for the capitol city. He would have to ask questions whose correct answers would not betray the true identity of the porters who he could see would every once in a while, change positions.
"So if I can't ask who you are why did you help me?"
The lion responded, his mane twitching a bit annoyed that the wolf would ask such a question without violating the terms of the porters' agreement. "We came because you needed it and we provide such services to men whose strength is about to leave them." He could hear the grunts of the other men and women, all of different species carrying the block of stone forward.
"Will the ten porters have strength enough to carry the stone all the way?" To that the lion responded that the stone would indeed be carried all the way to the capitol city and even assured the wolf that the king would love it more so than any of the other gifts that the cities elsewhere had sent. This struck Malkut as highly optimistic as the band trudged through the sand- all the heat and sweat of the desert was lost as the wolf ambled forward easily. It felt at times like he was walking through a gentle brook rather than torturing his hindpaws with these brutal conditions of the desert. And he continued, the entire world becoming hazy and dreamlike yet amidst the unchanging desert scenery, he still could see the ten porters (the lion himself was now carrying the stone over his shoulders) as something real. At last, they caught sight of the beautiful desert palace where the King lived with much of the population of his empire.
Malkut had made it to the city in the most unlikely of fashions. "Thank you! Thank you!" he said, overjoyed at the prospect of reaching his destination with the tribute for the King, as he ran to the gates. The wolf could see other parties bearing gifts more beautiful than his but he did not care for them- it was his gift which he delivered that would be the salvation of his small town. The king would have to accept that for a small poor town such as Namalah, a cube of stone would be the best they could offer. The citizens of the Capitol had come out to receive the guests, no doubt exhausted from their journeys and, with a fanfare of trumpets the king came forward, a cougar clad in purple, blue, and scarlet- the three rarest dyes in all the land- and addressed his nation.
"Peace, my countrymen! I see that everyone here has brought me gifts as tokens of appreciation. But I sensed that there was a city whose happiness and loyalty is greater than most so I must examine each of the treasures to see which city that is. Money and praise shall go forth to that city." This was just another way that Namalah would be humbled in the eyes of the people. They barely could afford anything , their gifts were so mundane, and dozens of villages brought forth gold and silver sculptures, works of art- why would anyone consider a granite cube worth more than these?
But then something very strange happened- Malkut the wolf remembered the lion's words that the king would love this gift more than anything else and he hoped that what this strange visitor had said would come true. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the king looking at this humble stone. Only it was not quite the same stone as earlier.
"What's this? This granite block of Namalah is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes upon. It is inlaid with bright jewelry and gold which form a pattern on its sides." When Malkut looked at the stone, he saw these changes for the better which had been made but there was no way that anyone could have made this stone anything more than what it was. Yet there it stood, with jewelry encased within, in a pattern the wolf did not easily recognize.
"Sir," one of the courtesans, a well-instructed fox of about 50, spoke "that symbol you see on the stone with the jewelry and gold is none other than the Tree of Life. And yet no one in the village of Namalah would no anything of that as our court records show there are no schools there." And then the cougar spoke to the wolf who had never spoken to someone as important as royalty before.
"It was the porters... There were ten of them." And then he suddenly remembered how he must repay the porters for their work in carrying the stone from the desert to the city. But they were nowhere to be found. Any earthly employee who had been commissioned to do just about anything would stay around his employer until he got paid but these porters did their job... and vanished without being paid.
The wolf could not help but feel guilty as he had nothing to pay the porters with and no way of even finding them. And this guilt only subsided when he read a small inscription on the granite block himself-
"Malkut, our names were Binah, Chokmah, Da'at, Gevura, Chesed, Tiaferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod and their leader was the lion named Keter. And this was our gift to you and your city. Our repayment is thus- tell this story to each of your generations."
And that's when the wolf realized that during the whole journey, he had been conversing with the Sefirot. That was the ten porters' true identity.