Regret of the lion (Based on the Greek fable)

I was resting on the bank of a river, preparing myself to swim across it.

“Mr. Lion, could you do my a favor?” A voice asked politely. I looked around but could not see anyone.

“Right down here! Mr. Lion,” the voice spoke a bit louder this time. I looked down and found a little scorpion standing beside my right front limb. Unlike his voice, his sharp claws and pointy tail reminded me what a dangerous creature he truly was.

“Oh, how may I help you, little fellow?” I replied gently. You see, it turned out that I was no ordinary lion you may see on the TV. I was quite an intelligent being. Not only that I could speak in human languages, but also…

“Who are you talking to, Mr. Lion?” The scorpion asked with doubt.

“Never mind. What did you say again?”

“I was wondering if you could be kind-hearted and carry me on your back across the river,” the scorpion requested.

“It is just a piece of cake for me. The only thing that worries me is what will happen if you sting me with your tail while we are in the middle of the river. You know, your poison is really deadly even for me,” I raised out my concerns.

“Of course not! If I hurt you on the way, we will both end up dead for sure. Why would I do such non-sense?” The little fellow explained. He surely had a point. Therefore, I allowed him to stay on my back while I started swimming across the river.

We chatted a little on our way. I was really enjoying myself since it was my first time to meet a scorpion. Perhaps we could become friends and travel around. Then, one day someone encountered us and found us amusing and wrote a fable about us…

All of a sudden, someone stabbed me on my back! What happened? Right after that, I started to lose feeling of my back. I was not stabbed. I was stung! The deadly scorpion stung me from behind!
“What in the world are you doing?” I shouted.

“I just stung you,” the scorpion answered with a monotone. I could not see him on my back. I really wanted to know how he looked right now.

“You know that now we are going to drown to dead, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know.”

I could not understand! The paralysis was now all over my body. I burst out my last words, “Then why are you doing it?”

“I am sorry, Mr. Lion,” the scorpion murmured. “I wish I could do it differently, but it is my instinct. I cannot resist it.”

Did the scorpion really say those words, or was it just my illusion? No one would ever know, as both of us were sinking. Sinking to the bottom of the river…