The Raven and the Stormcrow

Original version by Aesop.

There was once a little frog who lived by the river side. One day, a scorpion wandered by and asked the little frog if he would carry him across the river.

The scorpion said to the frog, "Carry me across the river." The frog said, "I will not. For if I do, you will sting me." The scorpion said, "I will not. For if I do, we will both drown."

The frog saw wisdom in the scorpion's words, so he let her climb on his back and began swimming across the river. About halfway across, he felt a painful sting in his back.

The frog felt the scorpion's poison flow into his heart, and as death closed in on him, they both began to sink into the cold water. Just before his nose slipped under the waves, the frog said, "Scorpion, now we will both drown!" But the scorpion smiled...


...and she said, "But little frog, I can swim."


Version with alternate ending by John Wick for L5R: The Way of the Scorpion.

Labels: Zen