艰
=
又
+
艮
:
Joan of Arc (ji) dropped her boxing glove (又) in front of the anthill (an1). It got stuck to a chewing gum (艮) on the pavement and now she has a hard (艰) time removing it. Joan of Arc's life is really difficult (艰) at the moment.
bitter / hardship / pain / to suffer / to bring suffering to / painstakingly
苦
=
艹
+
古
:
Karl Koala decided to repent for his sins and retreated into a cloister inside the space station. There he leads a very simple life full of hardship, e.g. he gave up on eucalyptus and just eats very bitter artificial lawn.