Scorpion, woman and nature to save

Once upon a time there was an old woman who used to meditate on the bank of the Ganges.  One morning, finishing her meditation, she saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the strong current.  As the scorpion was pulled closer, it got caught in roots that branched out far into the river.  The scorpion struggled frantically to free itself but got more and more entangled.  She immediately reached out to the drowning scorpion, which, as soon as she touched it, stung her.  The old woman withdrew her hand but, having regained her balance, once again tried to save the creature.  Every time she tried, however, the scorpion’s tail stung her so badly that her hands became bloody and her face distorted with pain.  A passerby who saw the old woman struggling with the scorpion shouted, “What’s wrong with you, fool! Do you want to kill yourself to save that ugly thing?” Looking into the stranger’s eyes, she answered, “Because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting, why should I deny my own nature to save it?”