燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志

yàn què yān zhī hóng gǔ 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

焉

yān

where

知

zhī

to know

鸿

hóng

eastern bean goose

鹄

gǔ

center or bull's eye of an archery target (old)

之

zhī

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

志

zhì

sign