The Hermit and the Mouse

Once upon a time, in a dense forest, there lived a wise hermit. His humble abode was a small hut amidst the trees.

One day, a tiny mouse scurried into the hermit's hut. It was trembling in fear. The hermit noticed the mouse's terror and decided to help. He used his spiritual powers to transform the mouse into a cat, hoping this would resolve its problem of being preyed upon.

However, the cat soon returned to the hermit, still exuding fear. It seemed that a dog in the forest was now chasing after it. The hermit, once again, used his spiritual powers, this time transforming the cat into a dog. He believed this would end the animal's cycle of fear.

To the hermit's surprise, the dog came back, expressing fear of a new predator, a fierce leopard in the forest. The hermit, feeling a sense of duty to help the creature, transformed the dog into a leopard.

But even as a leopard, the creature returned to the hermit, this time fearing the king of the forest, the mighty lion. In response, the hermit, once again, used his powers and transformed the leopard into a lion.

However, the lion, originally a mouse, still could not find peace. Realizing that changing the creature's physical form did not change its inherent nature, the hermit made a final decision. He transformed the lion back into a mouse, realizing that the source of the animal's fear was not its physical form, but rather its mindset.