This fable poem depicts a pitiful creature – a snail – whose mouth is full of saliva and can only wet its own body. It overestimates its own strength, carrying a strong smell, and only keeps climbing up and down, eventually drooling and dying on the wall, becoming the despised “sticky wall withered”. The image of a snail immediately reminds us of some incompetent individuals in the old society who blindly pursued high positions and wealth, ultimately dying in the world of fame and fortune.
这首寓言诗给我们描绘了一个”腥涎不满壳”、仅能打湿自己身躯的可怜虫–蜗牛。它不自量力，带着一股腥气，只顾不断地往上爬、爬，最后终于涎干命绝、枯死在墙壁上，成为人唾弃的”黏壁枯”。蜗牛的形象，使我们立刻联想到旧社会某些本无才德，却一味追逐高官厚禄，最后丧生在名利场上的禄蠹们。
苏轼·《蜗牛》
腥涎不满壳，聊足以自濡。
升高不知回，竟作黏壁枯。
A Snail
Su Shih
Not enough spit to fill your own shell,
barely enough to keep yourself damp.
You climbed too high: you’ll never get back down again.
You’ll just end up shriveled there, stuck on the wall.
（J. P. Seaton 译）
