The fable does not explicitly state a moral it tries to teach but a common interpretation is that people with vicious personalities sometimes cannot resist hurting others even when it is not in their interests. The Italian writer Giancarlo Livraghi has commented that while there are plenty of animal fables which warn against trusting vicious people, in none of these other fables is the villain suicidal. "The Scorpion and the Frog" is unique in that the scorpion is irrationally self-destructive and fully aware of it.