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I found this story and thought it was cool so I wrote it down here

The Scorpion and the Swan
In the oldest of days, before the coming of Man, there was a great river that ran its course through the very center of the One Land upon which all of the beasts of the world lived without malice or fear, each having it’s own place and it’s own purpose. And once upon this Great River, there chanced an improbable meeting between a Scorpion and a Swan.

As it should happen, the Scorpion sat on one bank of the Great River, looking eagerly and longingly towards the dim and distant Other Side to which it wished to travel. But scorpions are not made for water and find it most impossible to cross and so this Scorpion simply waited and longed, and longed and waited.

Until one afternoon, a bright and beautiful Swan sailed gracefully down the River, gliding smoothly along with the flow of the great water. The Scorpion called to it in greeting and the Swan hailed back, for in those days there was but one language heard upon the world, spoken and understood by all of the beasts of the land, sea and air alike.

The Swan turned itself slightly and slid across the River, right up to the very part of the shore where the Scorpion waited.

“I very much wish to gain the other side of the River,” said the Scorpion, “but I am unable to swim you see. Would you be gracious enough to allow me to ride upon your back to that distant shore?” the Scorpion asked in all earnest.

“I would be delighted,” replied the Swan as it lowered one of it’s mighty wings so that the scorpion might climb upon its back, which it did, uttering many and many a thanks.

And so, with the Scorpion upon it’s back, the Swan turned itself out into the flowing current of the River and began paddling with it’s great webbed feet. Soon, the two were well under way.

After many hours, the pair finally reached the middle of the Great River, so great it was, and were just about to enter the last half of their journey when the eager Scorpion, looking anxiously to the nearing shore, suddenly arced it’s segmented tail into the air, the deadly stinger at it’s end poised high above it’s back. In a flash, the poisonous barb lashed out, burying itself deep into the base of the Swans’ long and graceful neck.

The Swan’s eyes rolled in terror and pain, it’s body becoming suddenly still and tense as the burning venom coursed it’s way towards it’s heart. Slowly, painfully, the Swan hung it’s head low to the river surface and looked back at the Scorpion sitting peacefully upon its back as they began to sink into the cold, dark waters.

“Why, oh why have you done such a thing as to sting me when now, we both shall die?” asked the Swan.

The Scorpion replied, “To sting and to kill is all I know. It’s what I am.”

THE END