▸ 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!'

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