What is ironic about the lion and the tigers adventure? Or what makes the end of the lion and the tigers adventure so funny? Referring to the story called the cowardly lion and the hungry tiger

In the story of the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, we first see the two characters inside the empty throne room of Ozma, bored and sadly very much aware of their uselessness as guardians. They talked about the good old days when they used to be feared. They proceeded to make up stories of how fearsome they were. The Cowardly Lion professed that he can tear men/women into pieces, while the Hungry Tiger said he would eat fat babies. But when they proceeded to act upon their words they were forced to realize that they were indeed harmless and good animals who would rather be called cowardly and hungry than harm a woman or eat a child.