<p class="ql-block">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."</p><p class="ql-block">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.</p><p class="ql-block">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.</p><p class="ql-block">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.</p><p class="ql-block">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.</p><p class="ql-block">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.</p><p class="ql-block">杞人憂天</p><p class="ql-block">杞國有個人，整天擔心天會塌下來，地會陷下去。一天，他走在曠野上，心想這時候天要是塌下來，連個躲的地方都沒有，肯定會被碰成肉餅的。他躲進房屋里，又想天要是這么一大塊地碰下來，房屋不也被硬倒了嗎？砸倒的房屋不也要壓到頭上來嗎？ </p><p class="ql-block">他整天東奔西逃，突然，他發(fā)現(xiàn)路邊有個山洞，趕忙爬進洞里躲起來，這下他才放心了，悠悠然地觀賞洞外的風光。但他馬上又想天塌下來不把洞口堵死了嗎？暗無天日，不憋死，也一定餓死。他趕忙竄出去，連滾帶爬地來到大路上。天瓦藍瓦藍的，幾朵白云悠悠飄過。其實天離地面很遠很遠，哪里就塌下來呢？這樣想著，他才放心走起路來。 </p><p class="ql-block">走不多遠，到了一塊洼地，突然，他驚叫起來：“這塊地不是陷下去了嗎？救命！”越叫，越覺得陷得深。他沒命地往高處攀，花了九牛二虎之力，總算坐到一條路上，連連說：“真險，真險，真是大難不死?！敝劣诤竺娴耐莸?，他心有余悸，連看也不敢看了。 </p><p class="ql-block">遠遠看見自己那間破屋，他眉頭緊皺，如果待在家里，地陷了，怎么辦？最的辦法是房屋要建得像一艘船，地陷了，還能漂在水面上，再做幾把槳，還能乘風破浪，哈哈，妙主意！可是，他轉念又想，要是水面也塌了呢？和房屋一起在無邊無際的黑暗中有始無終地墜落，怎么辦？想著，他眼睛都不敢睜開，慌得六神無主。</p><p class="ql-block">另有一個人卻為這杞國人的憂慮而擔憂，便去開導他說：“天，不過是積聚的氣體罷了，沒有個地方沒有氣，你一舉一動，一呼一吸，整天都在天中活動，為什么還擔憂天會塌下來呢？”杞國的那個人說：“如果天真是由氣體積聚起來的，那么日月星辰，不都要掉下來嗎？”開導他的人說：“日月星辰，也是氣體積聚而成的，只不過它會發(fā)光罷了，即使掉下來，也不會打傷人的?！?lt;/p><p class="ql-block">杞國的那個人又說：“地要陷落怎么辦呢？”開導他的人說：“地，不過是堆積起來的土塊罷了，到處都是，沒有一個地方沒有土塊。你踐踏行走，整日在地上活動，為什么還要擔憂它會陷落下去呢？”這個杞國人聽了，才拋掉了憂愁，高興起來。開導他的人，也放心了。</p><p class="ql-block">故事出自《列子·天瑞》：杞國有人憂天地崩墜，身亡所寄，廢寢食者。</p>