凌霄（彩墨）

大约十年前，有一次去台北市立植物园写生，刚好遇到攀缘在棚架上的凌霄花开。盛开的凌霄红得醉眼，花团锦簇，美不胜收。

凌霄，多好听的名字，壮志冲上云霄。说明凌霄的特性：一心往上爬。不过，后来听说凌霄必须依附在墙垣或大树的枝干才能往上爬，没了依附，它就倒了下来。真不知倒地匍匐的凌霄会是什么景况啊。

人类社会不就是这个样子吗？自己不努力，依附裙带或特殊什么关系坐到什么大位，一旦依附的权贵倒下，树倒猢狲散，变得景况凄凉，不也是很可悲吗？

Trumpet Creeper/ink and color painting

I once went to the botanical garden in Taipei to sketch around 10 years ago, and I happened to catch the trumpet creeper in bloom. The red blossoms of the creeper were intoxicating, and sights in the garden were incomparably beautiful.

The trumpet creeper’s Chinese name means “soaring into the sky,” which alludes to this plant’s fondness for climbing. However, the creeper must eventually depend on a wall or the branches of a tree if it is to keep climbing. Without anything to support it, it would fall over. I really can’t imagine what a trumpet creeper crawling on the ground would look like.

Isn’t human society a bit like this? We often obtain our positions not through hard work, but through our in-laws or other special relationships. As soon as the powerful people we have attached ourselves to topple, we have to scramble to survive under humble circumstances—isn’t this pathetic? ＠

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责任编辑：昌英