Chinese Idioms - 杞人忧天

vann0000

February 13, 2009, 07:00 AM posted in General Discussion

杞人忧天 (qǐ rén yōu tiān)


Once upon a time, thare was a man in the state of Qi, he always worried about things that won't happen. One day, he was anxious again, because he was afraid for he thought if the sky collapsed, he would be crushed into death. He worried about that every day, he was thinner and thinner. But time went by, everything was ok, except his worrying heart. It was said that he didn't stop worrying about the "collapsing sky" even at the moment he was dead.

This idiom is used to describe people who wastes time and energy, even life on the bad situations that won't happen.

 

杞人忧天

　　从前在杞国，有一个胆子很小，而且有点神经质的人，他常会想到一些奇怪的问题，而
 让人觉得莫名其妙。
     有一天，他吃过晚饭以后，拿了一把大蒲扇，坐在门前程量，并且自言自语的说：
   “假如有一天，天塌了下来，那该怎么办呢？我们岂不是无路可逃，而将活活地被压
 死，这不就太冤枉了吗？”
    从此以后，他几乎每天为这个问题发愁、烦恼，朋友见他终日精神恍惚，脸色憔悴，都
 很替他担心，但是，当大家知道原因后，都跑来劝他说：
    “老兄啊！你何必为这件事自寻烦恼呢？天空怎么会塌下来呢？在说即使真的塌下来，
那也不是你一个人忧虑发愁就可以解决的啊，想开点吧！”
    可是，无论人家怎么说，他都不相信，仍然时常为这个不必要的问题担忧。
    后来的人就根据上面这个故事，引伸成“杞人忧天”这句成语，它的主要意义在唤醒人
 们不要为一些不切实际的事情而忧愁。它与“庸人自扰”的意义大致相同。