The Sky-Fearing Man of Qi

很久hěn jiǔ很久hěn jiǔ以前yǐ qián，杞qǐ国guó有yǒu个gè人rén天天tiān tiān抬头tái tóu看kàn天tiān。Long, long ago, in the state of Qi, there was a man who looked up at the sky every day.他tā怕pà天tiān突然tū rán掉下来diào xià lái把bǎ大家dà jiā压扁yā biǎn。He feared the sky might suddenly fall and crush everyone.结果jié guǒ吃不好chī bù hǎo睡不着shuì bù zháo，还hái到处dào chù提醒tí xǐng邻里lín lǐ要yào提防tí fáng这场zhè chǎng「灾难zāi nàn」。As a result, he ate poorly, couldn’t sleep, and went around warning the villagers to guard against this “disaster.”

村里cūn lǐ一位yī wèi老者lǎo zhě听了tīng le，笑着xiào zhe说shuō：「天tiān只是zhǐ shì高高的gāo gāo de气层qì céng，地dì只是zhǐ shì厚厚的hòu hòu de土层tǔ céng。」An elder in the village heard this and laughed, saying, 'The sky is only a high layer of air, and the earth is only a thick layer of soil.'他tā补充bǔ chōng说shuō：「它们tā men各gè安ān其qí位wèi，根本gēn běn不会bù huì说shuō塌tā就jiù塌tā。」He added, 'They each hold their place and certainly won’t just collapse.'那位nà wèi杞qǐ国guó人rén才cái恍然huǎng rán大悟dà wù。The man from Qi suddenly realized the truth.从此cóng cǐ，人们rén men就jiù用yòng「杞qǐ人rén忧yōu天tiān」来lái形容xíng róng那些nà xiē胡思乱想hú sī luàn xiǎng、为wèi不可能bù kě néng的de事shì担心dān xīn的de人rén。From then on, people used 'Qi ren you tian' to describe those who worry needlessly about impossible matters.

现在xiàn zài我们wǒ men也yě常用cháng yòng这个zhè ge成语chéng yǔ。Nowadays, we also often use this idiom.比如bǐ rú朋友péng you考试kǎo shì才cái刚gāng交卷jiāo juàn，就jiù整晚zhěng wǎn失眠shī mián，担心dān xīn自己zì jǐ全quán写错xiě cuò。For example, a friend has just submitted an exam, then stays up all night worrying they wrote everything wrong.

这时zhè shí，你nǐ可以kě yǐ安慰ān wèi他tā：「别bié杞qǐ人rén忧yōu天tiān啦la，好好hǎo hǎo睡shuì一觉yí jué吧ba！」At this point, you can comfort him by saying, 'Don’t be a worrier of Qi; get a good night’s sleep!'