No one knows for certain who wrote this fable, but it has certainly become well known.
One day a scorpion decided to go visit a relative in the next county. He traveled uphill and downhill, under fallen trees and over piles of leaves. Eventually, he came to a stream with a fast current. He walked up and down the stream bank looking for a bridge or a safer way to cross the stream but found none.
The scorpion sat pondering his situation when he noticed a frog sitting on a lily pad near the bank of the stream.
The scorpion said to the frog, “Kind sir, could you be so kind as to let me get on your back to ferry me to the other side of this stream?”
“How do I know you won’t sting me?” asked the frog.
The scorpion responded, “Because if I do, I will die too, as I can’t swim.”
The frog replied, “How do I know you won’t sting me once we reach the other side?”
“Kind sir I would be so grateful for your assistance that I wouldn’t dream of such a dastardly deed,” responded the scorpion.
The frog was satisfied and allowed the scorpion to crawl up onto his back and they set out into the water. The frog was swimming strongly across the stream when the scorpion suddenly stung the frog.
The frog felt the onset of paralysis and started to sink. Knowing they were both going to drown the frog had just enough time to ask, “Why did you sting me? Now we’re both going to die.”
The scorpion replied, “Because it’s my nature to sting”
Then they both died under the water.
The moral of the story is: “You cannot change your nature.”
Author – Unknown