那條蛇
這是畫面本身：真正躺在落葉底下的那條蛇。
noun · B2
A small poisonous snake with a thick body, which usually stays still and hidden until something comes near.
蝮蛇；毒蛇
核心畫面
Picture a short, thick snake lying very still under dry leaves, close enough to touch and impossible to see. It does not chase anything. It waits, and the harm comes from how near it already is. Both uses of viper live on that one picture: first the animal itself, then a person who works the same way - close by, quiet, and dangerous exactly because nobody sees them coming.
可以想成一條又短又粗的蛇，靜靜躺在乾葉子底下。牠離你很近，但你完全看不見。牠不追人，只是等著；危險來自「牠早就在你旁…更多收起
可以想成一條又短又粗的蛇，靜靜躺在乾葉子底下。牠離你很近，但你完全看不見。牠不追人，只是等著；危險來自「牠早就在你旁邊」這件事。viper 的兩個用法都靠著這張畫面。一個是那條蛇本身，另一個是像牠一樣的人：待在你身邊、不出聲、而且正因為沒人察覺才真的傷得到你。From the word’s history
The name comes from Latin vipera, shortened from vivipara: vivus (alive) plus parere (to bear). Unlike other snakes people knew, this one was seen to bring out live young instead of laying eggs, and the name records that.
這個字來自拉丁文 vīpera，是 vīvipara 縮短來的：vīvus（活的）加 parere（生下）。古人看到這種蛇不下蛋，而是直接生出活的小蛇，就用這件事替牠命名。名字本身講的是繁殖方式，跟毒沒有關係；毒和陰險的聯想，是後來從牠的習性長出來的。
Wiktionary entry supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:414134062): From Middle French vipere, from Latin vīpera, contracted from vīvipara, from vīvus + parere.
Two branches
像那條蛇的人
這是把畫面搬到人身上：不是明著來的敵人，而是坐在你旁邊、你沒有防備的那個人。
noun · C1
A person who behaves in a nasty way and does real harm to other people, often while seeming friendly.
陰險害人的人