Lots of people are afraid of snakes and would rather not go near the things. But for those willing to put the fear aside, there's money to be made in the snake business.

有很多人都很害怕蛇，并且不愿意去靠近这种生物。但是对于那些愿意把这种恐惧放在一边的人来说，在有关蛇的生意中，他们可是有钱可赚的。

$12m is a year of revenue generated by a few entrepreneurial snake farmers in the tiny village of Zisiqiao in East China's Zhejiang province.

在中国东部浙江省一个名叫子思桥的小村庄里，一些蛇农企业家的年收入可达到1200万美元。

Snake farmers sell more than 3 million snakes a year to pharmaceutical¹ companies who use the gall² bladders, livers and skins from the reptiles³ to create nutritional⁴ supplements that are ultimately sold to customers in Japan, South Korea, the US and Europe.

蛇农每年向制药公司销售300多万条蛇，制药公司用蛇的胆、肝和皮制成营养补充剂，最终卖给日本、韩国、美国和欧洲的客户。

People in China and in other places around the world swallow snake pills and drink snake wine made from snake-based ingredients because they believe that it helps to cure spinal⁵ disease or reduces the damage to one's liver when taken before drinking alcohol.

中国人以及其他国家的人都在服用含有蛇的成分的药片和药酒，因为他们认为，这有助于治愈脊柱疾病，在饮酒之前服用还可以减少酒精对肝脏的伤害。

A single gram of snake venom⁶ can bring in 3,000-5,000 yuan and many restaurants use snake meat as ingredients for cooking.

一克蛇毒可以带来3000-5000元的收入，并且许多餐馆都用蛇肉作为烹饪的原料。

90% of the area's 170 families depend on snake-raising for income, according to a report from the Global Times.

根据《环球时报》的一篇报道，在子思桥的170户人家当中，有90%是以养蛇为生的。