A tortoise and a scorpion lived as neighbors on the bank of a river. The tortoise was very kind hearted. It always talked sweetly and never harmed anyone. On the other hand, the scorpion had a different nature. He was in the habit of using bad language and quarreling without reason. The scorpion chased and stung everyone who came in his way or did not agree with him. On the other hand, because of its good nature, all neighbors liked the tortoise. Throughout the day, the tortoise moved around, talking to other animals and helping them in need. Because of its helping nature and sweet language, he had made many friends.
Everyone avoided the scorpion because of its bad behavior. Since no one wanted to talk to the scorpion, it felt very sad and lived all alone, hiding in dark corners under the stones. During the nights only, when everyone had gone to sleep, it would come out in search of food. In the mornings when everyone woke up and moved around, the scorpion again went hiding under the rocks. Because the tortoise had many friends and the scorpion had none, the scorpion felt very jealous of the tortoise. The scorpion did not realize that the tortoise had made many friends because of its sweet tongue and helping nature. Whenever the tortoise entered the river, for swimming all animals gathered on its bank to watch.
Everyone wanted to learn swimming from the tortoise. They knew that amongst all animals living on the bank of the river only tortoise was familiar with the places in land and river. They believed that because of this knowledge only the tortoise could teach them swimming at the right place. On the other hand, the scorpion believed that everyone liked the tortoise because it knew how to swim. He thought until he also learnt swimming, he could not have friends like the tortoise. However only the tortoise could teach him. One day the scorpion went to the tortoise and said, “Dear friend! Please teach me how to swim in the river?” Since the tortoise was always helpful to others, it agreed to teach swimming to the scorpion. The tortoise said,” Very well. I will teach you swimming. However, first you have to learn to swim in shallow waters on the bank of the river.
Only after learning to swim in the shallow water and developing strength, you should enter the deep waters”. The scorpion agreed to this suggestion. It began to practice under the guidance of the tortoise. After practicing for a few days, the scorpion could easily swim in the shallow water on the bank of the river. However, even after learning to swim, the scorpion found that no one approached him to learn swimming. The animals still wanted to learn swimming under the guidance of the tortoise because of his sweet nature. It made the scorpion all the more jealous of the popularity of the tortoise. The scorpion thought, if he could somehow kill the tortoise, he would be left as the only swimmer amongst the animals. Then other animals will have no other choice. \
They will have to come to him to learn swimming and become his friends. He made a plan to kill the tortoise. One day the scorpion went to the tortoise and said, “ You have taught me swimming in shallow water. I also want to learn to swim in the swift current in the middle of the river. Could you carry me on your back to the middle of the river and teach me there.” As a matter of fact, the scorpion had no desire to swim in the middle of river. He wanted to take the tortoise to the middle of the river, where he could kill it with its poison. He thought that after being stung with his poison in the middle of the river, the tortoise would become unconscious. Then he will not be able to swim back to the bank and will be drowned in the river. After the death of the tortoise he would become the only swimmer and everyone will become his friend. The tortoise did not suspect the wrong motive of the scorpion and agreed to take it to the middle of the river. He asked the scorpion to sit on his back and they swam together for some length in the river.
When they had reached where the water was somewhat deeper and current was swift, the scorpion thought of killing the tortoise without any delay. However, they had gone quite far from the bank of the river. The tortoise was not certain whether he could swim back to the bank of the river on his own. Only the teacher knows, how much the pupil has learnt. Without the help of his coach, the learner can never perform satisfactorily. For this very reason, in the scriptures, the status of the teacher has been considered equal to that of the God. The scorpion thought, if his teacher, the tortoise, told him that he had learnt sufficiently well to swim long distances, he would sting the tortoise there itself and go back safely to the bank. He had to think of some way to know whether he had become an expert swimmer. He told the tortoise, “I just remembered that I had asked a friend to meet me today at my house at the bank. If I am delayed my friend
may go back without meeting me. I have to go back to ask my friend to wait till I return. Can I swim back to the bank on my own without your help now?” The teacher always knows more than the pupil.
A student can never befool the teacher by cunning or telling lies. The tortoise became suspicious. He could understand what the scorpion had in mind. He thought, why should the scorpion think about going back alone without learning to swim? The tortoise said, “Yes you can swim back to the bank on your own. However you will have to learn a few tricks of swimming in the fast flowing current. It is easy to swim, where the current is slow. The current here is too fast for you to swim. If you want, I can quickly teach you the way to swim in such swift current. After that you may go back on your own?” The scorpion thought that he had befooled the tortoise.
The tortoise had not suspected anything fishy. Now he could learn the method as well as kill the tortoise. After that he could happily go back to the bank of the river. The scorpion said,” Okay! Please teach me the method?” The tortoise said, “The force of gravity pulls you down under water. In order to oppose this force, you have to produce an upward force opposite to the force of gravity. While swimming in the middle of the river you also have to face the forward, horizontal force of water, which is not there in the still water of a pool or at the bank of the river. For creating this force you will have to practice jumping up and down by pushing the water downwards. In course of practice, when you will fall down, I will support you on my back, till you learn to support yourself. The tortoise was convinced. As told by the tortoise, he held his breath, and jumped upwards with all his might. As soon as he jumped up in the air, the tortoise immediately dived into in the river, leaving the scorpion without any support. The scorpion sank deep down in the river and was drowned
Moral
- You can make friends and influence people by talking sweetly and helping others.
- One should never trust a person who is jealous by nature.
