扛在身上的東西
這一組是核心畫面本身：東西真的壓在人身上，人真的在走。
noun · B2
Someone who carries something, especially in an official or ceremonial way: the person who carries a flag, a torch, or a stretcher (a light bed used to carry someone who is hurt).
拿著／扛著東西的人
核心畫面
You can picture a bearer as someone with both hands full, walking. Something is resting on them — a flag, a stretcher, a coffin, a load of tents — and their whole job, for that stretch of time, is to keep it up and keep it moving. The word names the person by the weight they are under, not by who they are. Once you can see that, the stranger uses follow easily: the weight can become a message, a passport, a coffin, or a tradition, and the picture still works.
bearer 可以想成一個雙手都佔著、正在走路的人。身上撐著某樣東西：一面旗、一副擔架、一具棺木、一整隊的行李。在那…更多收起
bearer 可以想成一個雙手都佔著、正在走路的人。身上撐著某樣東西：一面旗、一副擔架、一具棺木、一整隊的行李。在那段時間裡，他整個人的任務就是把它撐住、帶著往前走。這個字是用「他扛的東西」來稱呼人，不是用他是誰。看懂這個畫面，後面比較怪的用法就順了：扛的東西可以換成一個消息、一本護照、一套傳統，畫面照樣成立。From the word’s history
Wiktionary records bearer as Middle English berer / berere, from Old English berere, and analyses it as bear + -er; the early attestation given is wæterberere, a water-carrier. That is the same picture the modern word keeps: the one doing the bearing.
來源資料記載 bearer 來自中古英文 berer、berere，更早是古英文 berere，結構是 bear 加上 -er，早期例子是 wæterberere（挑水的人）。這條線索跟今天的畫面是同一個：做「扛」這件事的那個人。
Wiktionary entry 'bearer' (packet etymology_text, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:912054022)
Five branches
帶到你面前的消息
扛的東西變成看不見的消息，但動作沒變：有人把它從那邊送到你面前。
noun · B2
The person who brings you news, a message, or a letter — very often news that the listener will not be happy to hear.
傳話（報信）的人
拿著就算數的那張紙
東西還在手上，但重點從「重量」換成「效力」：紙在誰手上，權利就跟著誰。
noun · C1
The person that an official document such as a passport or a ticket belongs to; on the document itself, the words 'the bearer' mean that person.
（證件的）持有人
扛著看不見的傳統
扛的東西完全沒有形體了，但「不扛就會掉在地上」這件事還在。
noun · C1
Someone who knows the customs and traditions of a group, keeps them alive, and makes sure that younger people learn them.
傳統的傳承者
bear 的另一面：長出來
這一支接的不是 bear「扛」，而是 bear fruit「結果實」，所以它跟上面幾組的關係在動詞本身，不在扛的畫面。
noun · C1
A plant or tree described by how much fruit it produces: a good bearer gives a lot of fruit, and a poor bearer gives little.
結果量多寡的植物