For those not familiar:
A frog was hopping along the shore of a river looking for a place to cross. He came upon a scorpion sitting on the shore. “Hello, friend frog,” said the scorpion. “It appears you are looking to cross the river. I too want to cross. Would you mind carrying me?”
The frog was taken aback. “Why, if I let you on my back to cross the river, you’d sting me and I would die. I don’t think I’ll do that.”
The scorpion immediately replied, “There is no logic to your concern. If I sting you and you die, I will surely die as well, since I can’t swim. I wouldn’t need a ride if I could swim.”
The frog thought a moment and then said, “Your logic makes sense. Why would you kill me if it would result in your death? Come along and climb on my back and we’ll cross this river.”
The scorpion climbed on the frog’s back and off they went to cross the river.
About halfway across the river, the scorpion raised its tail and stung the frog. The frog was both astounded and disconsolate. “Why did you sting me? Now I will die and you will surely drown and die also.”
The scorpion replied, “I can’t help it. It’s who I am. It’s in my nature.”
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That story is ridiculous.
Scorpions don’t have lungs so they can’t talk.
That story is ridiculous.
All classic stories are, which makes them great IMO.
You’re overthinking it, the scorpion likely had psychic abilities.
All scorpions study morse code and ASL
Very progressive of them
Where did you get this educated in the ways of wisdom ?
I know one that dresses like a ninja and can breathe fire, tho
Who? Where? Get them over here, right now.
Also, I’m fairly certain both lack higher reasoning skills to come up with these logical assessments.
They can also survive underwater for a while, from what I remember
My preferred version of the “nature of the Scorpion” tale is a little different. It doesn’t really fit here, but I like to post it whenever this story comes up, because I’m autistic, and it brings me joy to share the story.
One day, a Monk was walking alongside a stream when he saw a Scorpion struggling in the water. Knowing that scorpions cannot swim, he knelt down to scoop it out of the water.
Just before setting it down, the Scorpion turned and stung his hand. The Monk withdrew his hand in pain and the Scorpion fell back into the stream.
When the Monk realized this, he scooped his hands down again to save the Scorpion. And just as before, the Scorpion stung his hand and fell back into the stream. This scene repeated itself several times.
A little boy who was playing near the stream asked the Monk, “Excuse me. Why do you keep trying to save the Scorpion — Don’t you know it will just sting you every time you try to rescue it?”
The Monk, picking up a leaf and rescuing the scorpion successfully this time, replied, “Dear boy, just as it is a Scorpion’s nature to sting, and Water’s nature to make things wet, so it is my nature — a Monk’s nature — to save.”
That’s not the exact version I was told originally, but close enough.
How do we stop the Monk from letting those scorpions loose in the village? He is undermining the village, and must be stopped!
I like your version much better.
Instead of just focusing on the negative, it not only includes an example of a positive state of being but highlights the resilience of that good nature even when faced with the negative/harmful nature of another.
That’s what I like about it, too :)
It’d be funny if what ended up killing the scorpion was repeated impact trauma of its body slapping against the water
The rare instance of irony being conflated with humor.
Or the little boy throws the scorpion back into the water and says: “I’m a little boy and I don’t like scorpions”
It’s easy to want to help. It’s difficult to take stings.
I like this, thank you
What a twist. The guy who owns a boat knows how to swim. I do enjoy the abject stupidity of the elf’s hatred for humans in this comic.
elf racism seems to be a theme in any movie/show/ card game they have been in.
If you, an obviously barbaric and backwards race, don’t want to be hated by us elves (models of perfection), why are you so comically inferior? That doesn’t make sense.
yah, it always felt weird. tho to be fair real racism works similarly irl
Rowing>>>swimming
Fantasy racism is tight!
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
I don’t know.
I always though it was “common knowledge” that most sailors in the medieval times didn’t know how to swim. It might be an urban legend though.
I’ve heard that it was based on a reasoning that if you end up in the water at sea, you’re going to drown anyway, so it’s better to not be able to swim and just get it over with.
However, knowing that most sailors came from coastal communities, it’s probably pretty unlikely that learning to swim wasn’t a natural part of growing up. Kids have always enjoyed playing in the water.
Is there lore that I’m unfamiliar with that elves can’t swim?
No, most elves can swim just fine. But not that elf.
How is an elf like a scorpion?
This one has 6 “legs”.
If you’ve ever played dwarf fortress you will know.
You never got hammerstung by a river elf? You must’ve lived a sheltered life.
Attempted murder and a suicide.
I hate how relevant this appears to be to daily life.
The elf couldn’t swim? Sounds like a skill issue
They believed their own hype and thought they could walk on water.
It is my nature
