While t.py only bugs on 3.1, the following happens with 3.0 as well:

>>> line = '𐑑𐑧𐑕𐑑𐑦𐑙'
>>> first = '𐑑'
>>> first
'𐑑'
>>> line[0]
'\ud801'
>>> line[0] == first
False

And with 2.6:
>>> line = u'𐑑𐑧𐑕𐑑𐑦𐑙'
>>> first = u'𐑑'
>>> first
u'\ud801\udc51'