The Scorpion and the Frog

Remember the old parable of the scorpion and the frog.

A scorpion and a frog stood on riverbank one day. As the frog hopped toward the water to swim across, the scorpion asked him to carry him on his back to the other side.

The frog answered, “No, no…I’m not going to do that. We’ll get halfway across then you’ll sting me and kill me.”

But the scorpion answered quickly. “I would never do that. Think about it. If I sting you, you’ll die, and I’ll drown. It would doom us both.”

Finally persuaded, the frog agreed.

Sure enough, halfway across the river, the frog felt the sudden sting of the scorpion’s barb and the paralyzing venom spreading, his body going numb. As the frog faded into death and began to sink, he cried out, “Why would you do that? You’ve stung me and I'm dying! Now we’ll both drown!”

The scorpion answered simply: “Of course I stung you. I’m a scorpion. It’s what I do.”

We shouldn’t be surprised when actors behave according to their nature. The real mistake is expecting them not to.

That’s the lesson we’ve refused to learn about Iran.

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