to make; to produce / to write; to compose / to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc) / (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, friends etc) / (of a thing) to serve as; to be used for / to assume (an air or manner)
lit. would rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail (idiom) / fig. to prefer to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond