Python handles this case by raising the new error but including a reference to the original error. By default, the formatted error shows both: >>> mylist =

Python handles this case by raising the new error but including a reference to the original error. By default, the formatted error shows both: >>> mylist = [] >>> try: ... first = mylist[0] ... finally: ... inverse_length = 1.0 / len(mylist) # imagine this was something more complex ... Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 2, in <module> IndexError: list index out of range During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred: Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 4, in <module> ZeroDivisionError: float division by zero