at first / (at the) beginning / first / junior / basic
初
=
刀
+
衤
:
Back in the days when Chantal Chicken first arrived at the space station as the first junior scientist, she tried really hard to make a good first impression and put on a royal ermine coat. Just to be save she hid a cleaver behind her back just in case she wouldn't be received well.
三
=
一
+
二
:
Mnemonic symbol: a Cartesian coordinate system with three (三) axes.
Socrates (s-) is performing in front of the anthill (-an1). He created an electrical flute by attaching a large capacitor (二) to the flute (一), so that he can get the attention of all the ants. Moreover, he's balancing on a Cartesian coordinate system (三). Unfortunately, only three (三) ants stop to watch the performance.