Rashi on Genesis 47:31 says:
וישתחו ישראל: תעלא בעידניה סגיד ליה:
and Israel prostrated himself: [Although the lion is king] when it is the time of the fox, bow down to him. — [from Meg. 16b]
What exactly does Rashi mean here?
I looked up the Gemara [Megilla 16b] , but there I only found that comparing Yosef to a fox is ok in comparison to Yaakov (as apposed to calling him a fox in comparison to his brothers)
This seems to imply that the fox is sometimes the greatest of animals (not sure where the lion part comes from as it doesn't appear in the Hebrew) and that is why (in the nimshal) even Yaakov bowed to Yosef.
My question is: Is this a known fact that the fox is sometimes greatest animal. If so - when?