“The sage said, ’Thou shalt have no fear of death from leopards any longer.  Let thy natural form disappear and be thou a leopard, O son!’ At these words, the dog was transformed into a leopard with skin bright as gold.  With stripes on his body and with large teeth, thenceforth he began to live in that forest fearlessly.  Meanwhile, the leopard, seeing before him an animal of his own species, immediately forsook all feelings of animosity towards it.  Some time after, there came into the hermitage a fierce and hungry tiger with open mouth.  Licking the corners of his mouth with the tongue, and eagerly desirous of drinking blood, that tiger began to approach towards the animal that had been transformed into a leopard.  Beholding the hungry tiger of terrible teeth approach that forest, the (transformed) leopard sought the Rishi’s protection for saving his life.  The sage, who showed great affection for the leopard in consequence of the latter’s living in the same place with him, forthwith transformed his leopard into a tiger powerful for all foes.  The tiger seeing a beast of his own species did him no injury, O king.  The dog, having in course of time been transformed into a powerful tiger subsisting upon flesh and blood, abstained from his former food which had consisted of fruit and roots.  Indeed, from that time, O monarch, the transformed tiger lived, subsisting upon the other animals of the forest, like a true king of beasts.’

SECTION CXVII

“Bhishma said, ’The dog transformed into a tiger, gratified with the flesh of slain beasts, slept at his ease.  One day as he lay on the yard of the hermitage, an infuriated elephant came there, looking like a risen cloud.  Of huge stature, with rent cheeks, having signs of the lotus on his body, and with broad frontal globes, the animal had long tusks and a voice deep as that of the clouds.  Beholding that infuriated elephant, proud of his strength, approaching towards him, the tiger agitated with fear, sought the protection of the Rishi.  That best of sages thereupon transformed the tiger into an elephant.  The real elephant, seeing an individual of his own species, huge as mass of clouds, became terrified.  The Rishi’s elephant then, freckled with the dust of lotus filaments, dived delightfully into lakes overgrown with lotuses and wandered by their banks indented with rabbit holes.  A considerable time elapsed in this way.  One day as the elephant was cheerfully striding along the vicinity of the hermitage, there came before him unto that spot a maned lion born in a mountain cave and accustomed to slay elephants.  Beholding the lion coming, the Rishi’s elephant, from fear of life, began to tremble and sought the protection of the sage.  The sage thereupon transformed that prince of elephants into a lion.  As the wild lion was an animal of same species with himself, the Rishi’s lion no longer feared him.  On the other hand, the wild lion seeing a stronger