有人說到了印度，如果錯過了弄蛇人的表演，等於沒去過印度。一般人對於蛇這種冷血的爬蟲類，都避之唯恐不及，但在印度這個神秘的國度裡，由於宗教因素，「蛇」佔有非常重要的地位，牠同時也是生與死的象徵。

蛇在印度教教徒眼中，並非毒蛇猛獸，而是可以帶來好運，且通人性的神。外表看似兇猛的眼鏡蛇，更是財富的象徵。根據傳說，弄蛇人的祖先是由神祇Gorak Nath宴客時的客人們演變而來。而弄蛇的靈感，則是從印度神話中的創造與毀滅之神濕婆（Shiva）頸上所裝飾的一條蛇而來。

關於蛇神的傳說，各方說法不一。不過唯一能確定的是，在印度當地，這種古老的行業已流傳百年之久。而且值得一提的是，弄蛇這個行業是採父傳子的方式，在家族中代代相傳。

弄蛇人捕捉蛇的天賦似乎是與生俱來的。一位印度弄蛇人杜爾加（Durga）說：「當抓到蛇的時候，我們會和牠做個約訂，如果牠肯合作，很快地，就可以獲得自由了。」對弄蛇人而言，捉到蛇並不代表什麼，捕到眼鏡蛇王才是真正的挑戰。因為眼鏡蛇王身長可達15英尺，而且釋放出來的毒液足以殺死一頭大象。

儘管祭出了1972年公佈的野生動物保護法，1980年代的弄蛇人仍然是一種專業的魔力象徵，他們開始到杜拜和新加坡等地，參與由飯店和政府贊助的文化藝術節表演。

但是，當一些弄蛇人正享受風光的時刻，其餘大部分的弄蛇人卻流浪在鄉間，在人行道旁展現他們的眼鏡蛇或是其他種類的毒蛇，吹著長笛，一天不過賺個50印度盧比。

弄蛇人對那些激進的野生動物保護份子十分不滿，他們認為，那些虐待蛇的指控，根本是莫須有的罪名。因為，他們把蛇當成自己的父母對待，尊敬牠們，哪來的虐待之嫌？現在，印度政府突然嚴格地開始執行相關禁止弄蛇的法令，等於斷絕了他們的生路。沒有土地，沒有其他技能，要他們吃啥？

大部分的弄蛇人想要在國有的林業辦公室謀得職位，在那裡，他們可以運用他們在動物和傳統草藥方面的知識提供協助，特別是治療被蛇咬的案例。

弄蛇這項傳統技藝需要靠下一代傳承，但現在印度的年輕一輩幾乎沒人想學「弄蛇」。過去10年，這個行業早已逐漸沒落，如果沒人意識到這個傳統正一點一滴流失，再過不久，這項極具地方特色的古老技藝，也會隨著新德里西沉的夕陽般，消失在印度。

It is an image as synonymous with India as the Taj Mahal.

Walk into any famous tourist spot and you will find a turbaned snake charmer playing a wooden flute as a king cobra in a wicker basket sways rhythmically to the music.

But activists say that image may soon be a thing of the past as India's fabled snake charmers struggle for survival thanks to a government ban on the possession of many species of snakes.

"This is our hereditary profession. We have no land, no jobs and now we don't have any work either," complained Arjan Nath, a bearded, saffron-clad snake charmer seated by a lakeside temple in the village of Charkhi, 95 miles north of Delhi.

"So, how do we eat?" he cried.

Nath was surrounded by hundreds of other destitute "saperas," or snake charmers, who had gathered from across the country at a white stone temple dedicated to their patron saint, Guru Gulabgarnath, for the Hindu festival of Dusshera.

But the charmers, who came without their snakes, weren't there just to pray. This was also a Mahapanchayat, or grand gathering, to draft a strategy for lobbying the government to provide them with alternative employment.

"The government never thought about us before imposing the ban," shouted an angry Shishanath, a charmer from Delhi sitting on the temple steps, as the smell of incense filled the air.

"They may have banned our trade, but even now when there's a snake in a minister's house, they call us."

The hard times are a long way from the traditional Indian awe for snake charmers, who, with their distinctive amber ear-rings and rudraksha bead necklaces are revered as "yogis" or holy men in Hindu mythology.

Snakes are also worshiped in India where there are many Hindu temples and festivals dedicated to snakes and images of the god Shiva always have a snake around the neck.

Despite the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, the charmers went upmarket and acquired a touch of glamour in the 1980s when they began performing in hotels and government-sponsored cultural festivals in countries such as Dubai and Singapore.

But while some charmers hit the big time, the vast majority roamed the countryside holding sidewalk shows with a collection of cobras and vipers in their baskets and a 'been', or flute, earning barely 50 rupees ($1.10) a day.

"But then the government became strict and began confiscating our snakes," said Buddhanath, a gray-haired snake charmer who traveled from Delhi to Charhki for the annual festival.

"Today, there's no profession as maligned as ours. We have to be really careful not to get caught. Otherwise, we're beaten and our bags with our meager earnings are taken from us."

Some wildlife activists say charmers break the fangs of snakes, slash their poison glands and are often hand in glove with poachers who slaughter reptiles for the price their skin brings in international markets.

But snake charmers deny the accusations.

"We respect snakes like our parents and carry them on our shoulders. We would never ill-treat them," said Baba Tahalnath.

"We use them for 40 days and then release them in the forest. We're paying a price for the misdeeds of rich poachers," he added, as he and his colleagues at Charkhi raised their hands to swear they never killed snakes.

Most charmers want jobs in government forestry offices where they say they can help with their knowledge of animals and traditional herbs, especially to treat snake bites.

Some seek job opportunities for their children, who may have an education but are often forced to join the family business because there are no options.

"The saperas have on their own initiative tried to adapt to changing times by making use of the skills they possess," said Bahar Dutt of the Wildlife Trust of India, who is heading a project to help them find other jobs.

"They have organized themselves into musical bands, which play at auspicious occasions like weddings and birth ceremonies."

But there is still a tiny minority that refuses to give up its hereditary profession.

The snake charmers recount the time they were called in to guard the site of an India-Pakistan cricket match after a hardline Hindu leader threatened to unleash poisonous snakes in the stadium.

"Also, a king cobra costs us 10,000 rupees and how do you expect us to part with such a valuable possession?" asked Suresh Nath, seated around a holy fire smoking marijuana with colleagues as they discussed their problems.

He was not alone.

"At least one person in each household should have a license so the tradition does not die," said another snake charmer.

來自奈及利亞首都拉哥斯的消息指出，北方城市卡諾有7名婦女的死亡，和一條蛇有關。這起事件在當地造成一股迷信和恐懼的氣氛，居民們紛紛要求弄蛇人給予協助。

里吉亞爾‧札基村的居民說，只有婦女才會遇上這條蛇。而且，毒蛇在向她們攻擊後，就找不到蹤影。繪聲繪影的氣氛下，還傳出只有家庭主婦才會受害的說法。除了有7名婦女死亡之外，還有19名婦女接受弄蛇人的治療。

弄蛇人正在想辦法，安撫這條蛇。政府的做法則是在當地診所發放血清。

A single snake has been blamed for the deaths of at least seven women in a village near the northern Nigerian city of Kano, prompting residents to ask snake-charmers for help in a climate of superstition and fear.

The villagers of Rijiyar Zaki said the victims died last week after attacks by the snake, which residents said can only be seen by women and disappears immediately after striking, The Independent Vanguard newspaper reported on Friday.

Aside from the seven already killed, 19 other women are being treated by traditional snake charmers, residents said, adding that all the mystery snake's victims were all housewives. Local officials were not immediately available for comment.

"The snake charmers are showing me indications that it is the same snake that terrorised Jangusa, a neighbouring village," the newspaper quoted a prominent villager as saying. "We are consulting them (charmers) on how best to get rid of that snake before it finishes our womenfolk."

Villagers fear the snake attacks were caused by a some sort of curse placed on the village. A snake charmer in the village said his fellow charmers were doing everything possible to appease the mystery snake.

Rijiyar Zaki is the village where the late Muhammadu Maitatsine, the leader of an Islamic fundamentalist group that terrorised cities in northern Nigeria in the 1980s, fled to after the army forced the group out of Kano. Local officials told the newspaper that snake antidotes had been supplied to the three clinics in the area to complement the efforts of the traditional charmers.

抓蛇需要技巧，抓3千條以上的眼鏡蛇，更需要勇氣！

警方說，在孟加拉首都達卡，一位弄蛇人藉由助手的幫忙，在兩棟房子裡發現已經掛點的3千5百條眼鏡蛇幼蛇，還有數百枚的蛇蛋。

當地報紙報導，弄蛇人杜杜˙彌哈受卡塞之託，到他家抓蛇，卡塞的太太在家中發現兩條非常大尾的眼鏡蛇。

彌哈和助手把兩棟房子的地板都挖開，哪知道挖掘出這麼大的蛇窟。這項發現嚇壞的附近鄰居，大家紛紛從屋裡拔腿跑出。

彌哈說，他會在鄰近地區繼續尋找更多的眼鏡蛇，但他還沒有決定找到後要怎麼辦！

在孟加拉，眼鏡蛇超毒，而且常常在民宅裡頭築蛇巢，牠們經常使民眾免於鼠害或是其他有害的動物。

A Bangladeshi snake charmer called in to find two serpents in a suburban home near the capital unearthed over 3,000 deadly cobras and hundreds of eggs.

Police and local newspapers said snake charmer Dudu Miah captured over 3,500 young cobras at two houses in Narayanganj near Dhaka.

The find, however, triggered panic among neighbours who fled their homes, police said.

Newspapers said Miah was called in by Mantu Kasai after his wife found two large cobras on their property on Sunday.

Helped by his assistants, Miah dug beneath the floors of two houses and unearthed the slithering stockpile.

Miah said he would look for more cobras elsewhere in the neighbourhood, but was undecided about what to do with his catch.

Cobras, which are highly venomous and endemic to Bangladesh, often nest in houses -- frequently ridding them of rats and other domestic pests.

關於蛇的節慶，印度各地舉行的方式與時間不盡相同。一連串的節慶中較為盛大的，當屬7月到8月間的第15天，剛好是雨季期間，在印度馬哈拉施特拉邦（Maharashtra State）的桑伽利市（Sangli）中，一個叫做Battis Shirala的小村莊所舉行的印度蛇節（Naga Panchami）慶典。這個村莊內據說是全世界蛇最多的地方。

關於蛇節（Naga Panchami）慶典的傳說：有位農夫在耕作時，不慎殺了條小蛇，母蛇為了報復，當晚就將農夫一家咬死，家中只剩下一個女兒，只見農夫的大女兒正在虔誠的膜拜蛇神Naga，母蛇受其誠心感動，決定放過農人一家，並答應庇祐這一家人。

慶典時，人們在沐浴後會用泥巴和牛糞，分別在木頭及牆壁上，畫上9蛇的圖像，獻給印度教神話中的巨蟒，並在蛇洞旁倒上牛奶，與獻上米製的甜點。剛出嫁的女兒也會在慶典舉行時，回到娘家與家人團聚。

另外，在印度的喀拉拉（Kerala）這裡，人們則會對Ananta和Sesha兩條蛇的石像，加以膜拜，許多民眾家中甚至供有銀製或銅製的眼鏡蛇塑像，他們也同樣會獻上牛奶及甜點為祈求庇祐。

喀拉拉於印度西南一隅，崔旺德蘭（Trivandrum）昔為崔旺科爾公國所在，現為喀拉拉的首府。每年6月到8月間，由於季風盛行，所以少有慶祝儀式舉行，此外，喀拉拉地方寺廟，經常是鑼鼓喧天的熱鬧景象。歐南節（Onam）舉辦的蛇船大賽，更是吸引大批遊客前往觀賞。

＊Gorak Nath

據說毘濕奴（Vishnu）用泥巴做了Gorak Nath，將他送給了濕婆神，告訴Gorak Nath從今以後，他的族人都會敬拜並飼養蛇。之後Gorak Nath以眼鏡蛇的肉和毒液大宴賓客，傳說印度的弄蛇人就是從那些客人們的後裔變成的。（以上資料出自www.indiaprofile.com）

＊Naga

一詞源自印度神話，意為水神／海神，半人半蛇的形象。被認為能帶來安全、繁榮以及財富。

＊阿南塔（Ananta）、謝沙（Shesha）

是盤繞在毘濕奴身下的大蛇，為毘濕奴的座騎。在南傳的佛教寺院，經常可以看到毘濕奴以此做為化身形象。（以上資料出於www.angelfire.com.）