As if tigers and wolves weren’t enough, how about combining 後 with roosters and bulls, as in this expression:
鶏口牛後 (keikō-gyūgo: better to be the beak of a rooster than the rump of a bull) rooster + mouth + bull + rear
Better to be the beak of a rooster?! If that definition isn’t quite clear, here’s another: “It’s better to be the leader of a small group than a subordinate in a large organization.” OK, here it is in even more familiar language: “It’s better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond.” Ah, nothing like the way a cliche reorients you!
Here’s a final bit of philosophy:
雨後の筍 (ugo no take no ko: similar things turning up one after another) rain + after + ‘s + bamboo shoots
This literally means “bamboo shoots after rain.” Bamboo shoots thrive on water, so a good shower encourages them to spring up en masse. I’m surprised that 筍 is a way to write take no ko, “bamboo shoot,” as it’s otherwise written 竹の子 (bamboo + ‘s + child, or literally, the child of bamboo!).
Although the expression 雨後の筍 isn’t necessarily negative, it reminds me of this poem (which is definitely negative!):
Bloody men are like bloody buses—
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.—Wendy Cope, “Bloody Men,”
Serious Concerns (1992)
Two British poems in one blog (if you’ve been reading all the fine print)! There’s no telling where kanji will lead you!
