The Difficulty of Circumstances

"You have nothing to live for, you say? Well then. Try this. There is a barrel in the town of Tenba which has this property. Reach in it, once only, and you can pull out any object you want. That's right, it grants your wish, if you wish for something tangible."
Believing in those words, for he could believe in nothing else, the despondent swordsman traveled across the lands, and though he did not remember a deed he did, the people were everywhere grateful for his intervention.
He reached Tenba and found the barrel. Every man in the town knew the legend and knew it to be true, and directed him straight to it. "But you will not put your hand in," they told him.
He learned the reason when he saw the guardian. Before the barrel, radiant and unquestionable no common item, stood on its hind legs a bear wearing big, bulky red gloves. It stared into nothing until he approached, whereupon it gave him its attention and raised its gloves. Unsure, he took a step back, and the guardian bear resumed its idle attitude.
"The story is this." It was the white-haired man who told him of the barrel to begin who said that, and how he arrived there in time for an explanation would have bewildered someone not already confused by the bear. "A god placed that barrel there and set over it the guardian, saying this: 'Fulfill your desires if you can, but remember that whatever happens, good or bad, there is something behind it, and your desires can change easily enough.' Now you may kill yourself with the guardian as your excuse. I think first you should consider my advice from back then."
With that, the man disappeared, and the swordsman reflected.
Finis

The Animal Fantasy Publishing Industry

The reason we don't have a genuine example of animal fantasy is that the writer bear and publisher bear keep trying to kill each other. Economists call this "transaction costs."

I Imagine This Is What Animal Fantasy Is Like

Once there was a bear so big and hairy that nobody was hairier or bigger. So he went wandering. First he trained with the hawks, and soon he could jump higher than any bear ever could. Second he trained with the humans, and soon he could pick up things in his claws so that they'd never escape. Third he trained with the mice, and soon nobody could hear his coming. He traveled around after that too, and he pretty much learned it all.
The sole quest for a hero of that caliber was the search for the golden honey den, so off he went. He didn't know what challenges he'd have to overcome, and wouldn't you know, it was the Blackness Bear. The Blackness Bear had already conquered the den long ago. That meant they had to bite each other. The hero bear did it bigger and better, which means he took over the den and rules over it to this day where he enjoys as much honey as he pleases. Now don't you want to work hard and eat so you can be big and hairy, too?
Finis