<P> The origin of the fable is somewhat uncertain . One of the earliest known appearances of the fable is in the 1954 script of Orson Welles' film Mr. Arkadin . Although there are similarities with the fable of The Frog and the Mouse, the story here has more in common with later variants in which a scorpion appears that emerged in Asia during the Middle Ages, notably a story about a tortoise and scorpion . </P> <P> A study published in a German journal in 2011 can find no connection between that fable and the Indian tradition of the Panchatantra . Whereas the original Sanskrit work and its early translations do not contain any fable resembling The Scorpion and the Frog, a later fable, The Scorpion and the Turtle, is to be found interpolated in post-Islamic variants of the Panchatantra . In The Scorpion and the Turtle, the turtle drowns the scorpion after the scorpion tries but fails to sting the turtle through its hard shell . The study suggests that the interpolation occurred between the 12th and 13th centuries in the Persian language area and may offer a new starting point for further research on the question of the fable's origin . </P> <P> The fable relies to a significant extent on the idea of the creature's nature, which is of ancient reputation . Attesting to this, Oliver Goldsmith dedicated a chapter to "The Scorpion and its Varieties" in A History of the Earth and Animated Nature (1774) and observes that "It is certain that no animal in the creation seems endued with such an irascible nature...I have seen them attempt to sting a stick when put near them; and attack a mouse or a frog, when those animals were far from offering any injury ." </P> <P> John Malcolm, in his 1827 Sketches of Persia, from the Journals of a Traveller in the East, relates another version of "The Scorpion and the Tortoise" nearer to the modern - day "Scorpion and the Frog" which also plays on the theme . In this version, after the scorpion begs to be taken over the water and then attempts to sting the tortoise midstream, it is brought safely onshore, after which the tortoise remonstrates: </P>

Story of the scorpion and the frog meaning
find me the text answering this question