An Old Lion

014. An Old Lion. A Lion that in the Days of his Youth and Strength, had been very Outragious and Cruel, came in the end to be Reduced by Old Age, and Infirmity, to the last Degree of Misery, and Contempt: Insomuch that All the Beasts of the Forrest; some out of Insolence, others in Revenge, some in fine, upon One Pretence, some Upon Another, fell upon him by Consent. He was a Miserable Creature to all Intents and Purposes; but Nothing went so near to the Heart of him in his Distress, as to find himself Batter'd by the Heel of an Asse.
Moral. A prince that does not secure Friends to Himself while he is in Power and Condition to oblige them, must never expect to find Friends, when he is Old and Impotent, and no longer Able to do them any Good. If he Governs Tyrannically in his Youth, he will be sure to be Treated Contemptuously in his Age; and the Baser his Enemies are, the more Insolent, and Intollerable will be the Affront.

[more info; you can read L'Estrange's Reflexion at the online book.]

And here is an illustration by Francis Barlow:

Lion, Boar, Bull, and Donkey

1.16. de leone, apro, tauro et asino
Caxton: Of the lyon / of the wyld bore / of the bole & of the asse
Whanne a man hath lost his dignyte or offyce / he muste leue his fyrst audacyte or hardyness / to thende / that he be not iniuryed and mocqued of euery one / wherof Esope sheweth vnto vs suche a fable / There was a lyon whiche in his yongthe was fyers and moche outragyous / And when he was come to his old age / there came to hym a wyldbore / whiche with his teeth rent and barst a grete pyece of his body and auenged vpon hym of the wrong that the lyon had doo to hym before that tyme / After came to hym the boole whiche smote and hurted hym with his hornes / And an asse came there / whiche smote hym in the forhede with his feete by maner of vyndycacion / And thenne the poure Lyon beganne to wepe sayenge within hym self in this manere / whan I was yonge and vertuous euery one doubted and fered me / And now that I am old and feble / and nyghe to my dethe / none is that setteth ne holdeth ought by me / but of euery one I am setten a back / And by cause that now I haue lost bothe vertue and strengthe / I haue lost alle good and worship /
And therefore this fable admonesteth many one whiche ben enhaunced in dygnyte and worship shewynge to them / how they must be meke and humble / For he that geteth and acquyreth no frendes ought to be doubtous to falle in suche caas and in suche peryls
[more info]

The Old Lion

099. THE OLD LION. You will find the fable in English on this page; scroll down to see if there are multiple English versions. [more info]

The Old Lion

145. THE OLD LION. A lion, worn out with age, lay fetching his last gasp and agonizing in the convulsive struggles of death: upon which occasion, several of the beasts who had formerly been sufferers by him, came and revenged themselves upon him. The boar, with his mighty tusks, drove at him in a stroke that glanced like lightning; and the bull gored him with his violent horns: which, when the ass saw they might do without any danger, he too came up, and threw his heels into the lion's face: upon which the poor old expiring tyrant uttered these words with his last dying groan: “Alas! How grievous it is to suffer insults, even from the brave and the valiant! But to be spurned by so base a creature as this is, who is the disgrace of nature, is worse than dying ten thousand deaths.” [more info]

The Old Lion

099. THE OLD LION. A lion, worn out with age, lay fetching his last gasp and agonizing in the convulsive struggles of death: upon which occasion, several of the beasts who had formerly been sufferers by him, came and revenged themselves upon him. The boar, with his mighty tusks, drove at him in a stroke that glanced like lightning; and the bull gored him with his violent horns: which, when the ass saw they might do without any danger, he too came up, and threw his heels into the lion's face: upon which the poor old expiring tyrant uttered these words with his last dying groan: “Alas! How grievous it is to suffer insults, even from the brave and the valiant! But to be spurned by so base a creature as this is, who is the disgrace of nature, is worse than dying ten thousand deaths.” [more info]

The Aged Lion, The Wild boar, The Bull, and the Ass

1.21. THE AGED LION, THE WILD BOAR, THE BULL, AND THE ASS. Whoever has fallen from a previous high estate, is in his calamity the butt even of cowards.
As a Lion, worn out with years, and deserted by his strength, lay drawing his last breath, a Wild Boar came up to him, with flashing tusks, and with a blow revenged an old affront. Next, with hostile horns, a Bull pierced the body of his foe. An Ass, on seeing the wild beast maltreated with impunity, tore up his forehead with his heels. On this, expiring, he said: “I have borne, with indignation, the insults of the brave; but in being inevitably forced to bear with you, disgrace to nature! I seem to die a double death.” [more info]

The Old Lion

1.20. THE OLD LION.
Whoever, to his honor’s cost,
His pristine dignity has lost,
Is the fool’s jest and coward’s scorn,
When once deserted and forlorn.
With years enfeebled and decay’d,
A Lion gasping hard was laid:
Then came, with furious tusk, a boar,
To vindicate his wrongs of yore:
The bull was next in hostile spite,
With goring horn his foe to smite:
At length the ass himself, secure
That now impunity was sure,
His blow too insolently deals,
And kicks his forehead with his heels.
Then thus the Lion, as he died:
“’Twas hard to bear the brave,” he cried;
“But to be trampled on by thee
Is Nature’s last indignity;
And thou, O despicable thing,
Giv’st death at least a double sting.” [more info]

The Lion Grown Old

03.14: THE LION GROWN OLD.
A lion, mourning, in his age, the wane
Of might once dreaded through his wild domain,
Was mock'd, at last, upon his throne,
By subjects of his own,
Strong through his weakness grown.
The horse his head saluted with a kick;
The wolf snapp'd at his royal hide;
The ox, too, gored him in the side;
The unhappy lion, sad and sick,
Could hardly growl, he was so weak.
In uncomplaining, stoic pride,
He waited for the hour of fate,
Until the ass approach'd his gate;
Whereat, 'This is too much,' he saith;
'I willingly would yield my breath;
But, ah! thy kick is double death!'
[more info]

The Old Lion

05. THE OLD LION.
A Lion, old and powerless,
Lay on the ground in sore distress,
Nigh unto death. Seeing his plight
A Boar, recalling an old slight,
Stabbed him as he defenseless lay,
With vengeful tusk, and ran away.
Soon after came a Bull, who bore
Resentment for an unpaid score,
And gored by way of punishment,
The Lion to his heart's content.
An Ass, who had observed all this,
Thought, "Here's a chance too good to miss."
And with his hind heels, just for spite,
Let drive at him with all his might.
At that, with an expiring roar,
The Lion cried, "Unmoved I bore
the insults of the Boar and Bull.
But now, indeed, my cup is full!
From you, a beast of meanest breed,
To suffer this is death indeed!" [more info]

The Sick Lion

09. THE SICK LION. A Lion had come to the end of his days and lay sick unto 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 on the point of death they thought to themselves: "Now is the time to pay off 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 quite 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.
Only cowards insult dying majesty. [more info]