 In the work of Cicero it appears as "In sinu viperam habere" (to have a snake in the breast) and in Erasmus' 16th century collection of proverbial phrases, the "Adagia", as "Colubrum in sinu fovere" (to nourish a serpent in one's bosom).The usual English form is 'to nourish a snake (or viper) in one's bosom', a phrase used by Geoffrey Chaucer ("Merchant's Tale", line 1786), William Shakespeare ("Richard II" 3.2.129–31,) John Milton ("Samson Agonistes", line 763) and John Dryden ("All for Love" 4.1.464–66), among the foremost.In one of the fable's alternative versions, the farmer takes the snake home to revive it and is bitten there.