含辛茹苦

含 = 今 + 口 : Hamlet (h) caught a cold and in order to cure it, he follows a very strict medicine plan. He put up a rip-off calendar (今) in the anthill's kitchen which shows when he has to put a cough drop (mnemonic symbol for 含) in his mouth (口) to suck (含). The calendar always shows the right date: today (今). Hamlet made the cough drops himself out of mandarins (口).

辛 = 十 + 立 : Marie Curie (xi) is preparing for the winter by making kimchi (辛) in front of the encampment ((e)n1). She is drying the vegetables by hanging them on crosses (十) and puts the finished kimchi into vases (立). She has been working very hard (辛) and in the end the filled eight (辛) vases with pungent hot (辛) kimchi.

辛 = 十 + 立 : Marie Curie (xi) is preparing for the winter by making kimchi (辛) in front of the encampment ((e)n1). She is drying the vegetables by hanging them on crosses (十) and puts the finished kimchi into vases (立). She has been working very hard (辛) and in the end the filled eight (辛) vases with pungent hot (辛) kimchi.

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.