一切經音義 72.138

72.138

Snakes and scorpions 蛇蠍 (The first character has the fanqie 射遮 [shé]. The Kaosheng says: 'The snake is a venomous reptile.' It is also pronounced tuó. In ancient times when people lived in nests and dwelled in caves, they would greet each other asking, 'Did no snakes come last night?' The Wenzidian shuo states: 'It is composed of "insect/reptile" (虫) with "ta" (它), pronounced tuó, phonetic.' In the treatise it is written as 虵, which is a popular form today and also acceptable. The second character has the fanqie 軒謁 [xiē]. Jia Kui's commentary on the Guoyu says: 'Xie means poisonous.' The Guangya says: 'Xie means stinging insects.' The Boya says: 'Stinging insects inject venom.' The Wenzidian shuo states: 'Chai and xie are different names [for the same creature].' It is composed of "insect" (虫) with "xie" (歇) phonetic. Xie has the same sound as above. Chai (蠆) has the fanqie 𡍩界 [chài]; qu (蛆) has the fanqie 七余 [qū]; shi (螫) has the fanqie 式亦 [shì].)