the frog and the scorpion

i was introduced to this fable by the friend Dayana, which goes a little something like this:

1. a scorpion asks a frog to carry him across a river.
2. the frog is afraid of being stung, but the scorpion reassures him that if he stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown as well.
3. the frog agrees.
4. In mid-river, the scorpion stings him, dooming the two of them.
5. when asked why, the scorpion states, "I am a scorpion, it is in my nature".

which got me thinking about the inability for an individual to suppress their "nature", in any sense, the same way a leopard cannot change their spots. Daily, such truth in action is on display within this crazed city, with many people alternating the role of frog and scorpion setting aside common sense and misplaced confidence in the good nature of the unproven, a move which ultimately destroys all parties.

"Can the Ethopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil".

~Jeremiah 13:23, NIV