The Scorpion and the Frog
One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and
decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests
and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he
reached a river. The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to
reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and
then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.
Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the
other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the
stream."Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water,
"Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the
river?" "Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help
you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.
"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I
would die too, for you see I cannot swim!" Now this seemed to make sense
to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You
could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!" "This is true,"
agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side
of the river!" "Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till
we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.
"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've
taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help,
that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!" So
the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank
and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled
onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and
the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog
stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly
through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the
current. Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his
back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger
from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on
earth did you do that?" The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the
drownings frog's back. "I could not help myself. It is my nature."
Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.
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