Does Gordon Brown remember the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog?
James Forsyth 10:57am
Just in case he doesn't, here is a reminder for him:
"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?""Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.
"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"
Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"
"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"
"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.
"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"
So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.
"I could not help myself. It is my nature."
Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.
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John
October 3rd, 2008 11:16am Report this commentBaroness Amos for Brussels? Worth a wager.
Northern John
October 3rd, 2008 11:26am Report this commentI wonder why it hadn't occurred to me to think of Gordon Brown as the friendly frog doing Mandy the Scorpion a favour.
Mike, Brighton
October 3rd, 2008 11:26am Report this commentTrust me, it will all end in tears.
Guido Fawkes
October 3rd, 2008 11:35am Report this commentSublimely apt.
Ctesibius
October 3rd, 2008 11:58am Report this commentTotally apt
Hereford
October 3rd, 2008 12:26pm Report this commentIt was a fox and a scorpion actually :o)
But I am sure the fox (frog) has taken out insurance policies.
Alfred T Mahan
October 3rd, 2008 1:35pm Report this commentBut which the frog and which the scorpion,eh?
Oscar
October 3rd, 2008 1:49pm Report this commentBrown has just totally and utterly and completely trashed his own brand. One of the best things he had going for him to start out with was that he was a straightforward kind of guy who'd seen off the loathed New Labour spin doctors. And now they're all back in force. The public were already feeling they'd had enough of the Brown Experience - but a return to the Mandelson Experience? That really will be the last straw for a very broad spectrum of voters.
Verity
October 3rd, 2008 8:43pm Report this commentNothing like messing up a good, parable with overwriting.
The scorpion did a little jig? The scorpion "crooned"? No he didn't.
The whole point of the parable was that there was no emotion involved at all. The scorpion was simply following its nature. Which the scorpion knew. It didn't say, "I couldn't help myself." It simply said, "It is my nature."
Nature isn’t sly or emotional. It just is.
It's stronger without the anthropomorphic frills.
Frank P
October 4th, 2008 3:07pm Report this commentVerity :-) in fact, LOL.
You are awwfull, but I laaikke you!
Kenneth Allen
March 2nd, 2009 5:01pm Report this commentThe Scorpion/Frog joke is so much better in its original form. It is about the Middle East. All the details are the same EXCEPT that the river is the Jordan River. As the Jewish frog is stung he asks the Palestian scorpion 'why'. The rsponse is 'hey, its the Middle East'.
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