index:
------------>
0 1 2 3 4
+---+---+---+---+---+
| a | b | c | d | e |
+---+---+---+---+---+
0 -4 -3 -2 -1
<------------
slice:
<---------------|
|--------------->
: 1 2 3 4 :
+---+---+---+---+---+
| a | b | c | d | e |
+---+---+---+---+---+
: -4 -3 -2 -1 :
|--------------->
<---------------|
hope this will help you to model the list in Python
reference:http://wiki.python.org/moin/MovingToPythonFromOtherLanguages