An old lion had come to the end of his life, and he lay sick at the mouth of his cave, gasping for his last breath.
The animals, his subjects, came round him and drew nearer as he grew more and more feeble.
When they saw him on the point of death, they thought to themselves, "Now is the time to pay off our old grudges."
So the boar came up and drove at him with his tusks; then a Bull gored him with his horns; still, the Lion lay helpless before them: so the ass, feeling relatively safe from danger, came up, and turning his tail to the Lion kicked up his heels into his face.
"This is a double death," growled the Lion.
Moral: Only Cowards Insult The Dying.
Stories Retold:- Original Source:- The Aesop Fables
