杞人忧天Groundless Worry that the Sky Might Fall

Groundless Worry that the Sky Might Fall（成语 杞人忧天 英文）

There was a man in the State of Qi(1) who was haunted by the fear that one day the sky might fall and the earth collapse, and he would have no place to settle. So worried was he that he could not eat and sleep in peace. Someone, anxious that the man would be worried to death, went to reassure him about this. He said to the man:" The sky is only an air mass and there's air everywhere. You move about all day long in the air, inhaling and exhaling, bending and stretching your limbs--Why do you have to worry about the sky's falling,when it's never likely to happen?"

"It's true that the sky is a congregation of air," the man rejoined, "but how about the sun, the moon and the stars? They will surely fall, won't they?"

"The sun, the moon and the stars are merely such bodies in the congregated air as happen to shine," the persuader replied,"Even if they did fall, they would hit nothing."

"Then suppose the earth collapses. What should I do?"

"The earth is merely amassed dust and rocks filling up the space everywhere. There is no spot that has not such masses. And you move about on the earth everyday, stepping on it and walking on it. Why worry that it might collapse?"

The man was gladly relieved, and so was the successful persuader.

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(1) a small state during the Zhou Dynastic rule, located in present-day Qixian County in Henan Province.

杞人忧天(chinese idioms)

杞国有个人担忧天会塌地会陷，自己无处存身，便整天睡不好觉，吃不下饭。另外又有个人为这个杞国人的忧愁而忧愁，就去开导他，说：“天不过是积聚的气体罢了，没有哪个地方没有空气的。你一举一动，一呼一吸，整天都在天空里活动，怎么还担心天回塌下来呢？”那个人说：“天果真是气体，那日月星辰不就会掉下来吗？”开导他的人说：“日月星辰也是空气中发光的东西，即使掉下来，也不会伤害什么。”那个人又说：“如果地陷下去怎么办？”开导他的人说：“地不过是堆积的土块罢了，填满了四处，没有什么地方是没有土块的，你站立行走，整天都在地上活动，怎么还担心会陷下去呢？”（经过这个人一解释）那个杞国人放下心来，很高兴；开导他的人也放了心，很高兴。