Thanks to Harold for this timely tale submitted in comments:
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 drowning frog’s back.
“I could not help myself. Self destruction – “Its my Nature”
Your wish is my command sweet prince.
The offering was quite entertaining and, perhaps it’s just that I’m pooped but, alas, I could see nothing in your missive to “correct”
???…care to give it another go?
Early one morning Scorpion sought passage across Stream on the back of Frog.
Frog said, “Very well, but before you hop on you must first praise the glorious color of my beautiful skin and promise to pay in gold dust when we get to the other side.”
Scorpion thought to himself, “Frogs are so thick in the head but this has to be the dumbest animal I have ever encountered. What an ugly stupid fool. I shall easily cross the Stream and meet with Rattlesnake on the other side.”
“Your skin is more beautiful than the sunrise and I have plenty of gold. I carry it in the bag on the end of my tail,” hissed Scorpion.
“Very well then, climb aboard,” croaked Frog.
Scorpion climbed onto Frog’s back and was soon across the giggling Stream. Raising his spear tipped tail Scorpion mocked, “You frogs are the stupidest animals on earth, thank you for the ride! I am the clever and wise Scorpion, feel my sting!” But as soon as Scorpion’s words were out of his mouth he could not move and was filled with pain. Scorpion’s pain was soon ended when Frog bit off the end of his tail and gulped Scorpion down whole. Stream giggled on, happy to have his gold back.
Coyote wandered by with Rattlesnake hanging from his jaws. Frog winked at Coyote and belched happily, “Good morning brother, I see you too have a poisonous breakfast.”