The Man from the State of Qi Worries Needlessly

子曰

In the State of Qi, there was a man who was constantly anxious that the sky might fall and the ground might cave in. One day, he was walking in a vast open area and thought to himself, "If the sky were to fall at this moment, there would be nowhere to hide, and I'd surely be crushed into a pancake." So, he sought refuge in a house, but then he realized, "If a large chunk of the sky were to crash down, wouldn't the house collapse too? And if the house falls, it would crush me beneath it."

He fled around like a dog in distress, running from place to place. Suddenly, he spotted a cave by the roadside and hurriedly crawled inside, feeling relieved. From there, he leisurely admired the scenery outside the cave. However, a new worry dawned on him: "What if the sky falls and blocks the entrance of the cave? It would be pitch dark, and I'd either suffocate or starve." So, he quickly dashed out and scrambled onto the main road.

The sky appeared vast and blue, with a few white clouds drifting lazily. In reality, the sky is far, far away from the ground. Where would it collapse to? With this realization, he felt at ease and resumed walking.

After a while, he reached a low-lying area and suddenly exclaimed, "Isn't this ground sinking? Help!" The more he shouted, the deeper he felt he sank. He desperately climbed to higher ground, exerting tremendous effort. Finally, he reached a road and kept muttering, "That was close, really close. I narrowly escaped a great disaster." He shuddered at the thought of the previous depression and dared not look back at it.

Seeing his rundown house from a distance, he furrowed his brows. If he stayed at home and the ground caved in, what would happen? His ingenious solution was to build the house like a ship so that it could float on water if the ground sank. He imagined adding oars to sail through wind and waves. But then he thought, "What if the water surface collapses too? The house and I would fall endlessly in boundless darkness." With this thought, he couldn't even bear to open his eyes, overwhelmed with panic.

Another person, concerned about the anxieties of the man from Qi, tried to comfort him. They said, "The sky is just a gathering of gases; there's no place without air. You move and breathe within the sky all day, so why worry about it falling?" The man from Qi retorted, "If the sky is made of gathered gases, wouldn't the sun, moon, and stars also fall?" The comforter replied, "The sun, moon, and stars are also formed from accumulated gases, except they emit light. Even if they fell, they wouldn't harm anyone." The man from Qi countered again, "What if the ground sinks?" The comforter explained, "The earth is simply a heap of accumulated soil found everywhere. There's no place without soil. You walk and tread on it every day, so why worry about it caving in?" Hearing this, the man from Qi finally cast off his worries and felt relieved. The comforter also felt at peace.

杞人忧天

杞国有个人，整天担心天会塌下来，地会陷下去。一天，他走在旷野上，心想这时候天要是塌下来，连个躲的地方都没有，肯定会被碰成肉饼的。他躲进房屋里，又想天要是这么一大块地碰下来，房屋不也被硬倒了吗？砸倒的房屋不也要压到头上来吗？

他整天东奔西逃，突然，他发现路边有个山洞，赶忙爬进洞里躲起来，这下他才放心了，悠悠然地观赏洞外的风光。但他马上又想天塌下来不把洞口堵死了吗？暗无天日，不憋死，也一定饿死。他赶忙窜出去，连滚带爬地来到大路上。天瓦蓝瓦蓝的，几朵白云悠悠飘过。其实天离地面很远很远，哪里就塌下来呢？这样想着，他才放心走起路来。

走不多远，到了一块洼地，突然，他惊叫起来：“这块地不是陷下去了吗？救命！”越叫，越觉得陷得深。他没命地往高处攀，花了九牛二虎之力，总算坐到一条路上，连连说：“真险，真险，真是大难不死。”至于后面的洼地，他心有余悸，连看也不敢看了。

远远看见自己那间破屋，他眉头紧皱，如果待在家里，地陷了，怎么办？最的办法是房屋要建得像一艘船，地陷了，还能漂在水面上，再做几把桨，还能乘风破浪，哈哈，妙主意！可是，他转念又想，要是水面也塌了呢？和房屋一起在无边无际的黑暗中有始无终地坠落，怎么办？想着，他眼睛都不敢睁开，慌得六神无主。

另有一个人却为这杞国人的忧虑而担忧，便去开导他说：“天，不过是积聚的气体罢了，没有个地方没有气，你一举一动，一呼一吸，整天都在天中活动，为什么还担忧天会塌下来呢？”杞国的那个人说：“如果天真是由气体积聚起来的，那么日月星辰，不都要掉下来吗？”开导他的人说：“日月星辰，也是气体积聚而成的，只不过它会发光罢了，即使掉下来，也不会打伤人的。”

杞国的那个人又说：“地要陷落怎么办呢？”开导他的人说：“地，不过是堆积起来的土块罢了，到处都是，没有一个地方没有土块。你践踏行走，整日在地上活动，为什么还要担忧它会陷落下去呢？”这个杞国人听了，才抛掉了忧愁，高兴起来。开导他的人，也放心了。

故事出自《列子·天瑞》：杞国有人忧天地崩坠，身亡所寄，废寝食者。