11/11/2025
An Ancient Fable and 6 Great Lessons of life
The story
There is a famous fable by Aesop. It tells the story of the scorpion and the frog on the banks of a river. Both desire to cross to the other side. While the frog is an accomplished swimmer, the scorpion lacks any such skill.
So the scorpion appeals to the frog to allow him ride on his back to the other side of the river.
"But you will sting me and that would be the end of me!" Screamed the frog in alarm
"Do not think like that dear frog", intoned the scorpion in a voice that sounded like an angel, "think about it, if I did that, you would be unable to swim again and both of us will perish."
The frog thought about this. He looked upon the despondent countenance of the scorpion, and his heart melted.
"Maybe he is not so evil after all, " said he to himself, thoughtfully, carried away by the gentle plea of the scorpion, "It seems like those who spoke about him exaggerated his evil inclination," He whispered to himself.
The wily scorpion, seeing the tide of the frog's opinion begin to change, quickly threw in the joker: "I don't want to die, most wise frog, gentle sir, I only desire to be re-united with my wife and children on the other shore. If you leave me here, I will not survive the tide".
This was the final statement the frog needed to hear to become convinced of the intentions of the scorpion. Or so he thought.
He agreed to ferry him across on his back.
And merrily they journeyed across the bumpy waters.
As they neared the other shore, the frog suddenly felt a massive sting across his shoulder. It was so painful that he could not scream. His muscles began to cramp and they began to sink. With his last breath he exclaimed:
"Oh scorpion! Why did you do this? Why did you sting me even when you know that we will both be doomed in these waters"
With his last breath the scorpion answered, his voice shrill and uncompromising, "Brother frog, I tried. I tried so hard from the other shore till we got here, at the end I could not help myself"
With his dying breath he said his final words: "It is in my nature to sting and I will not be a scorpion if I did not sting like a scorpion"
(Original story by Aesop but the words are mine.)
The 6 lessons
1. Take people as they are.
People are who and what they are. If you have a friend that is a talkative, it's not your job to make him miserable by correcting him at every opportunity. Choose to be his friend as he is or take a walk.
2. Don't try to mould something new, work with what you have.
In my entrepreneurial career I learned that trying to mould people into your idea of what they ought to be is a perilous undertaking that only breeds enmity and frustration. You are frustrated and the person is also frustrated. These days I learn to find out what people want to do, thier aspirations, there plans, even the areas where they believe their competence lies. I try very hard, and for me it's a very painful duty(Because I really believe that people should have the capacity to change and improve) to align with people's opinion of themselves. While you may not get the best you think you should, trust me you get a lot of peace.
3. You can't plant maize and get cocoyam
Bad people will always be bad. Don't get carried away by dogma, religion or stories of reformation. This story speaks to the philosophical construct of the essential nature of things, including man, beast and other none living things. Dr Dipo Fashina, the philosophical guru at the then Great Ife taught us about the concept of essence and attributes. While it is easy to change attributes, it is impossible to change the essence of a creature.
4. Essence does not change
The essence is at the core of character. This is why you see born again Christians and pastors who commit unbelievable evil acts. Imams who use human beings for rituals. Its not that they are not well trained. Before they became imams or pastors, there was evil at the core of their character. It will be there till they die.
If you see an armed robber, a thief or a bad person who became reformed, be sure he acquired those evil habits as a result of circumstances. He was never essentially a thief or a killer. Killers will always be killers. Study the literature.
5. Reputation is everything
Reputation matters. Do not listen to what people say about themselves. One of the sharpest ways people defraud in Nigeria today is to introduce themselves as pastor or imam. When people hear pastor they immediately fall into trust mode. Meanwhile the guy is ready to make a kill. Always fall back on reputation. If the frog had depended on the reputation of the scorpion as a stinger there is no way he would have been swayed by all those lies.
6. Watch out for aspirational liars
People don't always know themselves. Sometimes when people tell you things about themselves, it's simply what they wish to be. What they think they can do. What they truly feel is within their capabilities. So, it's not only bad people who lie to you. Good people do aspirational lying too. They have convinced themselves that they can do something because they have listened to a lot of motivational speeches(If you believe it you can do it, meanwhile he doesn't really know what the deeper meaning of that is). At the end, you hand over the assignment and payment to him because you can feel his sincerity. The crazy part of this is that the guy also feels so bad about the whole thing at the end. Genuinely. You will now hear: It's the devil.
Take special note of this last one. It's the most painful and the most devastating.
