燕雀安知鸿鹄之志

yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì

lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom)

fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?

燕

yàn

variant of 燕[yan4]

雀

què

(bound form) small bird

安

ān

(bound form) calm; peaceful

知

zhī

to know

鸿

hóng

eastern bean goose

鹄

hú

swan

之

zhī

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])

志

zhì

sign