A scorpion came to a river swollen with rain. The far bank was only a short swim away, which would have been fine if he could swim. A frog was sitting on a stone at the water’s edge.
“Would you carry me across?” asked the scorpion.
“I’ve seen what you do with that tail,” said the frog. “You’d sting me, and I’d sink.”
“And what would happen to me?” the scorpion asked. “I’d go down with you.”
The frog watched the current for a while. He could think of no answer to that. At last he lowered himself into the shallows and let the scorpion climb onto his back.
Halfway across, where the current was strongest, the frog felt a sharp sting between his shoulders. He kicked once more, but his legs had already begun to fail. The far bank was still a long way off.
“Why?” he managed. “Now we’ll both drown.”
The scorpion clung to his back as the water rose around them.
“It’s my nature,” he said.
