本性難移

本

běn

性

xìng

难

難

nán

移

yí

It is hard to change one's essential nature (idiom). You can't change who you are. / Can the leopard change his spots? (Jeremiah 13:23)

Characters and words in 本性難移

本

běn = b + (e)n3

root / stem / origin / source / this / the current / original / inherent / originally / classifier for books, periodicals, files etc

本 = 一 + 木 : Beelzebub (b) finds a Christmas tree (木) in the encampment ((e)n3) and feels like eating its roots (本). He uses a flute (一) to chop the roots right off.

本

běn

性

xìng

natural instincts / nature / inherent quality

性

xìng = xi + (e)ng4

nature / character / property / quality / attribute / sexuality / sex / gender / suffix forming adjective from verb / suffix forming noun from adjective, corresponding to -ness or -ity / essence / CL:個|个[ge4]

性 = 忄 + 生 : Marie Curie had a strong character since she was little. Even in her cradle in the engine's bathroom she was only playing with a flail.

难

難

nán = n + an2

difficult (to...) / problem / difficulty / difficult / not good

难 = 又 + 隹 : Mnemonic symbol: a video game which is almost impossible to beat.

难 = 又 + 隹 : Just inside the anthill's kitchen, Napoleon and a sparrow are trying to beat an insanely difficult video game. After playing and failing all day long Napoleon finally loses his temper and crashes the game wearing two boxing gloves.

难

難

nàn = n + an4

disaster / distress / to scold

移

yí = y + Ø2

to move / to shift / to change / to alter / to remove

移 = 多 + 禾 : Maud Younger (y) and Manny (多) just received their food ration in the space station's entrance (Ø2). It's a bowl of cereals (禾). Again. Both Maud and Manny hate been eating cereals over and over again, so they move and shift (移) the cereals between each other because neither wants to eat it.