One day a turtle was crawling about its turtle business.
On the way, a scorpion followed her. Involuntarily, the turtle had to crawl with him.
As for the turtle, she was unusually smart and insightful, as she acquired a lot of experience in her frequent travels.
And suddenly a wide river crossed the travelers’ path.
Then the turtle rushed towards the goal of his desires and aspirations and, swaying like a goose or duck, swam to the other shore.
By chance, she looked back and saw that her companion was running back and forth along the shore, holding his tail up on his shoulder.
“Oh, my friend,” the turtle asked him, “why don’t you cross over to the other side?”
And the scorpion answered:
- Unfortunately, I can’t swim. The turtle thought to himself:
“Can companions throw aside the rules of partnership for every trifling reason? This is not good. It’s better for me to transport him to the other side.”
In a word, the turtle turned back. She began to row with her paw oars, swam to the shore in a few strokes and said:
“Oh, my friend, I came back to take you across the river.” Sit on my back, but don’t fidget unnecessarily, or you’ll hurt yourself.
“Everyone knows very well what is good for him,” answered the scorpion, and crawled onto the turtle’s back, and she went down into the river and swam.
Soon the scorpion began to sway on its feet and forward.
- Why are you moving around there uselessly? - asked the turtle.
“I decided: I’ll learn to stick my sting into your leather shield,” answered the scorpion.
“What can your impotent sting, like a thorn, do to my shield?” – the turtle exclaimed irritably.
“Don’t you know,” the scorpion objected, “that the scorpion’s goal is to strike with its sting either a comrade in the chest or an enemy in the back?”
In both animals and humans
Habits are often stronger than reason.
Know: that’s why a Scorpio is a Scorpio,
That he will even sting stones.
Then the turtle became completely angry and said: “Oh, my friend, how long will I float on the water like a piece of wood?” You should admire the pearls at the bottom of the deep stream.
Having said this, she dived, just as divers do, and began to collect pearls. And the scorpion choked and drowned.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru