The Sick Lion

The Sick Lion
A Lion had come to the end of his days, and he lay sick and close to death at the mouth of his cave, gasping for breath. The animals, his subjects, came round him and drew nearer as he grew more and more helpless. When they saw him so weak, they thought to themselves: "Now is the time to pay off old grudges." So, the Boar came and dug his tusks into the lion; then a Bull gored him with his horns; still the Lion lay helpless before them: so the Ass, feeling quite safe from danger, came up, and turning his tail to the Lion kicked the lion in his face. "This is like dying twice, to have to endure these attacks from such cowardly creatures when I am powerless." growled the Lion.
And, the moral is… Only cowards insult dying majesty.