lit. the humiliation of having to crawl between the legs of one's adversary (as Han Xin 韓信|韩信[Han2 Xin4] supposedly did rather than engage in a sword fight) (idiom) / fig. utter humiliation
down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action
下
=
一
+
卜
:
Mnemonic symbol: from the up/down logic, and a little bit the shape of the character, a ladder.
Xi Shi (xi) is on a retreat in the ashram. Using a voodoo staff (卜), she divined that next (下) week she'll have to play the flute (一) sixteen hours per day. Because she hates playing the flute, she climbs over the ashram's bathroom (a4) wall using a ladder (下) to escape.
之
=
丶
+
Z
:
Mnemonic symbol: Sooo sleepy... "zZz" (the character looks like a "Z"). James II of England (zh) fell asleep in front of the space station (Ø1). He sleeps on a big petal leaf (丶), making loud "zZz" (之) sounds.
Rachel Rhinoceros (ru) misbehaved in the space station (Ø3) and is not allowed to eat a piece of the birthday cake (辰) that all the other children eat. Instead, for bringing disgrace (辱) to the space station, she has to wear a dunce cap (辱) and stand in the corner. She still thinks her prank was funny though, so she secretly thumbs up (寸) to herself.