"}A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. \u201cDo I look like a fool?\u201d said the frog.\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019d sting me if I let you on my back!\u201d
\u201cBe logical,\u201d said the scorpion.\u00a0\u201cIf I stung you I\u2019d certainly drown myself.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d the frog acknowledged.\u00a0\u201cClimb aboard, then!\u201d But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown. \u201cWhy on earth did you do that?\u201d the frog said morosely. \u201cNow we\u2019re both going to die.\u201d\u00a0
\u201cI can\u2019t help it,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cIt\u2019s my nature.\u201d
___
\u2026But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the frog felt a subtle motion on its back, and in a panic dived deep beneath the rushing waters, leaving the scorpion to drown.
\u201cIt was going to sting me anyway,\u201d muttered the frog, emerging on the other side of the river. \u201cIt was inevitable. You all knew it. Everyone knows what those scorpions are like. It was self-defense.\u201d
___
\n\u2026But no sooner had they cast off from the bank, the frog felt\n the tip of a stinger pressed lightly against the back of its neck. \u201cWhat do you think you\u2019re doing?\u201d said the frog.
\u201cJust a precaution,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cI cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair\u2019s fair, isn\u2019t it?\u201d
They swam in silence to the other end of the river, where the scorpion climbed off, leaving the frog fuming.
\u201cAfter the kindness I showed you!\u201d said the frog. \u201cAnd you threatened to kill me in return?\u201d
\u201cKindness?\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cTo only invite me on your back after you knew I was defenseless, unable to use my tail without killing myself? My dear frog, I only treated you as I was treated. Your kindness was as poisoned as a scorpion\u2019s sting.\u201d
___
\n\u2026\u201cJust a precaution,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cI cannot sting you without \ndrowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair\u2019s fair,\n isn\u2019t it?\u201d\n\n
\u201cYou have a point,\u201d the frog acknowledged. \n\u201cBut once we get to dry land, couldn\u2019t you sting me then without \nrepercussion?\u201d
\u201cAll I want is to cross the river safely,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cOnce I\u2019m on the other side I would gladly let you be.\u201d
\u201cBut I would have to trust you on that,\u201d said the frog.\u00a0\u201cWhile you\u2019re pressing a stinger to my neck. By ferrying you to land I\u2019d be be giving up the one deterrent I hold over you.\u201d
\u201cBut by the same logic, I can\u2019t possibly withdraw my stinger while we\u2019re still over water,\u201d the scorpion protested.
The frog paused in the middle of the river, treading water. \u201cSo, I suppose we\u2019re at an impasse.\u201d
The river rushed around them. The scorpion\u2019s stinger twitched against the frog\u2019s unbroken skin. \u201cI suppose so,\u201d the scorpion said.
___
\n
\nA scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the\n river. \u201cAbsolutely not!\u201d said the frog, and dived beneath the waters, and so none of them learned anything.___
A scorpion, being unable to swim, asked a turtle (as in the original Persian version of the fable) to carry it across the river. The turtle readily agreed, and allowed the scorpion aboard its shell. Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle\u2019s thick shell. The turtle, swimming placidly, failed to notice.
They reached the other side of the river, and parted ways as friends.
___
\u2026Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung,\n but failed to penetrate the turtle\u2019s thick shell.The turtle, hearing the tap of the scorpion\u2019s sting, was offended at the scorpion\u2019s ungratefulness. Thankfully, having been granted the powers to both defend itself and to punish evil, the turtle sank beneath the waters and drowned the scorpion out of principle.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it \nacross the river. \u201cDo I look like a fool?\u201d sneered the frog. \u201cYou\u2019d \nsting me if I let you on my back.\u201dThe scorpion pleaded \nearnestly. \u201cDo you think so little of me? Please, I must cross the \nriver. What would I gain from stinging you? I would only end up drowning\n myself!\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d the frog acknowledged. \u201cEven a \nscorpion knows to look out for its own skin. Climb aboard, then!\u201d
But as\n they forged through the rushing waters, the scorpion grew worried. This frog thinks me a ruthless killer, it thought. Would it not be justified in throwing me off now and ridding the world of me? Why else would it agree to this?\n Every jostle made the scorpion more and more anxious, until the frog surged forward with a particularly large splash, and in panic the \nscorpion lashed out with its stinger.
\u201cI knew it,\u201d snarled the frog, as they both thrashed and drowned. \u201cA scorpion cannot change its nature.\u201d
___
\nA scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. \n\nThe frog agreed, but no sooner than they were halfway across the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown. \n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve only myself to blame,\u201d sighed the frog, as they both sank beneath the \nwaters. \u201cYou, you\u2019re a scorpion, I couldn\u2019t have expected anything better. But I knew better, and yet I went against my judgement! And now I\u2019ve doomed us both!\u201d
\u201cYou couldn\u2019t help it,\u201d said the scorpion mildly. \u201cIt\u2019s your nature.\u201d\u00a0
___
\u2026\u201cWhy on earth did you do that?\u201d the frog said morosely. \u201cNow we\u2019re both going to die.\u201d \n\n
\u201cAlas, I was of two natures,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cOne said to gratefully ride your back across the river, and the other said to sting you where you stood. And so both fought, and neither won.\u201d It smiled wistfully. \u201cAh, it would be nice to be just one thing, wouldn\u2019t it? Unadulterated in nature.\n Without the capacity for conflict or regret.\u201d \n\n
___
\u201cBy the way,\u201d said the frog, as they swam, \u201cI\u2019ve been meaning to ask: What\u2019s on the other side of the river?\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s the journey,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cNot the destination.\u201d
___
\u2026\u201cWhat\u2019s on the other side of anything?\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cA new beginning.\u201d
___
\u2026\u201dAnother scorpion to mate with,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cAnd more prey to kill, and more living bodies to poison, and a forthcoming lineage of cruelties that you will be culpable in.\u201d
___
\u2026\u201dNothing we will live to see, I fear,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cAlready the currents are growing stronger, and the river seems like it shall swallow us both. We surge forward, and the shoreline recedes. But does that mean our striving was in vain?\u201d
___
\u201cI love you,\u201d said the scorpion.
The frog glanced upward. \u201cDo you?\u201d
\u201cAbsolutely. \nCan you imagine the fear of drowning? Of course not. You\u2019re a frog. Might as well be scared of \nbreathing air.\n\n\n\nAnd yet here I am, clinging to your back, as the waters rage around us. Isn\u2019t that love? Isn\u2019t that trust? Isn\u2019t that necessity? I could not kill you without killing myself. Are we not inseparable in this?\u201d
The frog swam on, the both of them silent.
___
\u201cI\u2019m so tired,\u201d murmured the frog eventually. \u201cHow much further to the other side? I don\u2019t know how long we\u2019ve been swimming. I\u2019ve been treading water. And it\u2019s getting so very dark.\u201d
\u201cShh,\u201d the scorpion said. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid.\u201d
The frog\u2019s legs kicked out weakly. \u201cHow long has it been? We\u2019re lost. We\u2019re lost! We\u2019re doomed to be cast about the waters forever. There is no land. There\u2019s nothing on the other side, don\u2019t you see!\u201d
\u201cShh, shh,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cMy venom is a hallucinogenic. Beneath its surface, the river is endlessly deep, its currents carrying many things.\u201d\u00a0
\u201cYou - You\u2019ve killed us both,\u201d said the frog, and began to laugh deliriously.\u00a0\u201cIs this - is this what it\u2019s like to drown?\u201d\u00a0
\u201cWe\u2019ve killed each other,\u201d said the scorpion soothingly. \u201cMy venom in my glands now pulsing through your veins, the waters of your birthing pool suffusing my lungs. We are engulfing each other now, drowning in each other. I am breathless. Do you feel it? Do you feel my sting pierced through your heart?\u201d
\u201cWhat a foolish thing to do,\u201d murmured the frog. \u201cNo logic. No logic to it at all.\u201d
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t help it,\u201d whispered the scorpion. \u201cIt\u2019s our natures. Why else does anything in the world happen? Because we were made for this from birth, darling, every moment inexplicable and inevitable. What a crazy thing it is to fall in love, and yet - It\u2019s all our fault! We are both blameless. We\u2019re together now, darling. It couldn\u2019t have happened any other way.\u201d
___
\u201cIt\u2019s funny,\u201d said the frog. \u201cI can\u2019t say that I trust you, really. Or that I even think very much of you and that nasty little stinger of yours to begin with. But I\u2019m doing this for you regardless. It\u2019s strange, isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s strange. Why would I do this? I want to help you, want to go out of my way to help you. I let you climb right onto my back! Now, whyever would I go and do a foolish thing like that?\u201d___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across \nthe river. \u201cDo I look like a fool?\u201d said the frog. \u201cYou\u2019d sting me if I \nlet you on my back!\u201d
\u201cBe logical,\u201d said the scorpion. \u201cIf I stung you I\u2019d certainly drown myself.\u201d \u00a0
\u201cThat\u2019s\n true,\u201d the frog acknowledged. \u201cCome aboard, then!\u201d But no sooner had \nthe scorpion mounted the frog\u2019s back than it began to sting, repeatedly,\n while still safely on the river\u2019s bank.
The frog groaned, thrashing weakly as the venom coursed through its veins, beginning to liquefy its flesh. \u201cAh,\u201d it muttered.\u00a0\u201cFor some reason I never considered this possibility.\u201d
\u201cBecause you were never scared of me,\u201d the scorpion whispered in its ear.\u00a0\u201cYou were never scared of dying. In a past life you wore a shell and sat in judgement. And then you were reborn: soft-skinned, swift, unburdened, as new and vulnerable as a child, moving anew through a world of children. How could anyone ever be cruel, you thought, seeing the precariousness of it all?\u201d The scorpion bowed its head and drank. \u201cHow could anyone kill you without killing themselves?\u201d