It is said that if you draw a circle on the ground and place a scorpion inside, the scorpion will not go outside the circle. It perceives the area outside the line as a danger and diligently moves only within the circle.
If you draw a straight line through the center of the circle, creating two semicircles, the scorpion still does not leave its own semicircle. If you divide the semicircle in half again, and then divide the quarter-circle in half again, the scorpion’s range of movement continues to decrease.
When the repeated divisions finally reach an area barely large enough for its own body, the scorpion begins to feel extremely anxious. This is because it has no room to maneuver. It frantically tries to move back and forth, but it cannot go forward, backward, or sideways.
For the scorpion, the world has now become a prison with walls on all sides. It cannot move, nor can it confide in anyone. Its heart begins to race, and its body stiffens. Its breathing becomes rapid, and its heart rate increases even more. Finally, the scorpion raises its long tail into the air and plunges the sharp stinger into its own back.
If we place the circle as the world and the scorpion as a human being, drawing the lines represents lies. Saying “no” when it is “yes,” saying “I didn’t do it” when they did, saying “I didn’t see it” when they did, “lies” that must remain secrets even though heaven and earth know—these are the “lines.”
Regardless of their size, all lies narrow one’s range of movement and vision. For example, if you had sex with someone else last night and tell your partner, who asks why you didn’t answer the phone, “I went to bed early,” then last night becomes an “area outside the line” for that person. It becomes a room that exists but cannot be entered.
Each time you tell a lie, the number of rooms you cannot enter increases by one. No matter how large a house you live in, you will eventually become like the trapped scorpion. One year later, 10 years later, or perhaps 30 years later. The arrival time is unknown, but the destination is determined. The final stop is “Scorpion’s Suicide” station.
Where are you going?
Leave a Reply