Far from his native place, Su looked back on his frustrated career and felt he had spent 30 years in a dream of illusory glory. On awakening he now found himself mired in the mud of human politics, his future uncertain. He felt like a fish caught on a hook, unable to swim up or down.
身在惠州，離家萬裡，歷經人事滄桑的蘇子瞻，自覺三十年一場邯鄲大夢，夢醒發現自己被困在人世的政治泥沼中，茫茫來日，命運不知，如掛鉤之魚，不上不下。