What Is The Fable Of "The Sick Lion"� About?

There are two versions of this tale. In one, a lion pretended to be ill in order to lure the other animals into his cave. When they went in, he sprang up and ate them. He tried the same trick on the fox. The fox, however, just stood outside his cave looking in. "Do come in, Mr Fox," whimpered the lion, "you see I am too feeble to get up." "No thank you, replied the fox, "I can't help noticing that although there are plenty of prints going into your home, there are none coming out."

The other version is shorter and has a stark message. This time the lion is really dying; and the other creatures, who were formerly afraid to go near him, all come into his cave and take pleasure in biting, kicking in taunting him. The message is that everybody is brave enough to insult dying majesty.