The Scorpion and the Frog
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The Scorpion and the Frog is a fable often mis-attributed to Aesop. The story is about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid to be stung, but the scorpion reassures him that they would both die if that happened. The frog then agrees, but in mid-river the scorpion stings him nevertheless, telling him that it is simply his nature to do so.
This story is often quoted to illustrate the purportedly unsuppressable nature of one's self at its base level.
The premise of this fable formed the basis of the plot of the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Scorpion", in which Chakotay describes the fable to Captain Janeway as a warning not to trust the Borg. A fox is substituted for the frog.
This story is also told by Orson Welles in the film Confidential Report (A.K.A. Mr. Arkadin (1955) and Forrest Whitaker in the film The Crying Game. It is referenced by James Gandolfini's character during a season 2 episode of The Sopranos, by John Glover's character during a season 1 episode of Smallville, and Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) in Gilmore Girls during Season Six. It also appears in the 1989 Blake Edwards film Skin Deep.
This story was also told and depicted several times in the Japanese animation Edens Bowy.
