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 until he reached a river. The scorpion saw a frog sitting and decided to ask it for help getting across the stream.
"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion, "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 won’t 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, so it agreed to take the scorpion across the river. 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, "I could not help myself. It is my nature."
—The Scorpion and the Frog
