苦
Suffer
On’yomi: く
Kun’yomi: くる.*, にが.*
Radicals: Flowers + Old
Meaning: Suffer
Old flowers suffer and start to wilt just before they die. Fresh cut flowers don’t stay fresh for long, eventually the flowers get old, suffering all the way. And then they die. Old flowers suffer.
Imagine you’re an old flower. You’re suffering. You know you’re at the end of your life and you just want to end the suffering. You wish someone would just press you in a book.
Reading: く
Along comes a coocoo (く) bird. It sees that you are suffering. In an attempt to put you out of your misery, the coocoo bird eats you. You no longer suffer.
Pretend you are an old flower. Imagine your wilted petals getting eaten off one by one by a coocoo bird. It might be painful, but it’s better than a long drawn out death filled with suffering.