A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on his
back across a river. "Are you At least I'm true to myself mad?" exclaimed
the turtle. "You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown."
"My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "if I were to sting you, you would
drown and I would go down with you. Now where is the logic in that?"
"You're right!" cried the turtle. "Hop on!" The scorpion climbed aboard
and halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both
sank to the bottom, the turtle resignedly said:
"Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there'd be no logic in your
stinging me. Why did you do it?"
"It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion sadly replied.
"It's just my character."
disclaimer: mi misticismo oriental lo saco de Usagi Yojimbo [1] y similares, aunque en este caso, he copipasteado de Snopes [2].