一切經音義 53.164

53.164

虵獺（上食遮反說文云從虫而長象冤曲垂尾之形也上古巢居患虵故相問無他[受-(冗-几+又)+ㄎ]它即今之虵字也下他達反說文云似小狗水居捕魚之獸也從犬賴聲）。

虵獺 (the first character is shi + zhe fan; the Shuowen says: "Formed with 'insect/reptile' [虫] and long, picturing the coiled shape with a hanging tail; in high antiquity people dwelled in nests and were plagued by serpents, hence when inquiring after one another they asked if there were any 'serpents' [他/虵], where 'it/other' [它] is the present character for serpent"; the second character is ta + da fan; the Shuowen says: "An animal resembling a small dog that lives in water and catches fish"; it is formed with 'dog' [犬] with lai [賴] as phonetic).