large bird, possibly related to crane or swan (archaic) / mythical monstrous bird, cf Sinbad's roc
燕雀安知鸿鹄之志
yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì
lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom) / fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?
刻鹄类鹜
kè hú lèi wù
to aim to carve a swan and get a semblance of a duck (idiom) / to fail utterly in trying to copy something / to get a reasonably good, if not perfect, result
癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉
lài há ma xiǎng chī tiān é ròu
lit. the toad wants to eat swan meat (idiom) / fig. to try to punch above one's weight
小天鹅
xiǎo tiān é
(bird species of China) tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus)
燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志
yàn què yān zhī hóng gǔ zhī zhì
lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom) / fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?
鹍弦
kūn xián
pipa strings, made from sinews of large crane or swan 鵾雞|鹍鸡[kun1 ji1]
鹍鸡
kūn jī
large bird, possibly related to crane or swan (archaic) / mythical monstrous bird, cf Sinbad's roc
hú