HIMALA MOUNTAINS. 
247 
and very ferocious black cat came prowling by, who, 
perceiving the mouse, was preparing to spring upon 
and devour that poor little animal. By good fortune, 
however, the Sanias was seated reading in front of his 
door, and quickly discovered the jeopardy of his 
favorite. His heart was immediately enlarged with 
compassion, and in order to rescue the mouse he in a 
moment of time transformed him into a cat superior 
in size and strength to his enemy ; so that the black 
cat becoming terribly alarmed remained not to con- 
template this wonderful transfiguration, but fled in the 
fear of annihilation. 
“ Exulting in his increased bulk and newly acquired 
strength, and sensible of the great peril from which 
the Sanias had rescued him, the cat failed not to 
exhibit an increased degree of affection towards his 
protector, and the Sanias in return showed that he re- 
garded the animal with fondness, as a signal mark of 
his power and skill. Thus when he beheld the cat 
exposed to danger by the attack of a fierce dog, he 
hesitated not to repeat his spell, and at once changed 
him into a larger and more powerful dog than the 
assailant, and by this means was he a second time 
delivered by the Sanias from threatening destruction. 
Not very long after this new instance of the devout 
man’s supernatural power and his benevolence of 
heart, the dog was attacked by a fierce buffalo, and the 
Sanias again befriended him, as he had done before, by 
converting him into a beast of the same genus, but 
