“The Scorpion and the Frog”
Up in the mountains, not so very long ago, there lived a scorpion. He grew up in a beautiful forest, where his ancestors had lived for generations before him. One day, however, the scorpion grew tired of his old home and went in search of someplace new.
The scorpion set off through the forest, and he traveled a great distance on his eight legs. Eventually, though, his path was blocked by a deep and swift-moving stream. Seeing no way across, no matter how far up or down the stream he walked, he came back and stood for a long while pondering his situation.
As he stood there, along came a frog and the scorpion found the answer to his dilemma. The frog, seeing the scorpion waiting by the bank, approached cautiously.
“Hello there, Mr. Frog!” called the scorpion in greeting. When the frog did not respond, the scorpion pressed on.
“Might you be about to cross the stream?” he asked the frog politely.
Still wary of the scorpion, the frog answered, “Well, Mr. Scorpion, I will be, as soon as that stork, who is waiting on the other side to eat me, leaves. Why do you ask?”
“Well, as it happens, I too need to get across this stream. But as you can see,” the scorpion explained, “I am a scorpion and therefore I cannot swim. Would you be so kind as to carry me across on your back?”
The frog looked sidelong at the scorpion for a moment then asked, “And why should I do that?”
“Well,” the scorpion answered easily. “I cannot cross by myself – that much is clear. And you cannot cross as long as that stork,” he reasoned, pointing across the stream at the bird, “stands waiting to snap you up as you climb out of the water.”
The frog could not argue that, as long the stork stood on the opposite bank, he was as stuck as the scorpion.
“If you carry me across,” the scorpion went on, “when we get to the other side, I will scare the bird away and you can climb safely to the bank and be on your way.”
The frog thought for a moment. “How do I know you won’t try to sting me when I get close to you?” he asked.
“Why would I do such a thing? If I sting you now, I will have no way across the stream. And if I stung you out on the water, I would certainly drown,” the scorpion relied.
“And once we get to the other side?” the frog prompted, still not convinced.
“Well, once you carried me across the stream, I would be so grateful to you, why would I then reward your kindness with death?” the scorpion argued.
The frog, being a good-natured fellow, found that argument to be perfectly reasonable, and so he agreed to carry the scorpion across the stream. Slipping easily into the water, he waited as his passenger climbed onto his back.
“Hold on tightly,” the frog warned. “The current is swift.”
And with that, the frog struck off, kicking his powerful legs and swimming easily across the river. About halfway across, the frog suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. The frog turned his head in time to see the scorpion pull his stinger out of the amphibian’s back. The frog’s limbs quickly began to go numb as the poison spread through his body.
“Why did you do that?” the frog, dying, managed to croak. “Now we will both drown!”
“I could not help myself,” the scorpion said with a shrug. “I am a scorpion… it is in my nature.”
English
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