英語故事：祀人憂天

　　In the past, a man in the State of Qi went off into wild flights of fancy all day long. He was afraid that the sky might collapse, the land might cave in and he would have no place to live. He was so worried that he could neither eat nor sleep.

　　One man who was worried about him came to enlighten him by saying: "The sky is only an air mass. All men's activities are inside this mass. Why do you worry that the sky would fall?"

　　The man of Qi asked: "If the sky were really an air mass, then wouldn't the sun, the moon and the stars fall down?"

　　That man said:"The sun, the moon and the stars are only things that can shine in this mass. Even if they fall down, they would not harm people."

　　The man of Qi asked again: "Then what can I do when the land sinks?"

　　The man said: "The land is only piled-up earth. There is earth everywhere. Every day you walk on the land. Why do you worry that it would sink?"

　　When the man of Qi heard this, his worries vanished at once and he became very glad. The man who enlightened him and cured his melancholia was very pleased too.

　　從前，祀國有個人整天胡思亂想。他害怕天會塌下來，地會陷下去，自己會沒有地方生存，急得飯也吃不下，覺也睡不好。

　　有一個人，很為他擔(dān)心，就跑來開導(dǎo)他說：“天只不過是一團(tuán)氣體，人的一切活動都在這團(tuán)氣體當(dāng)中，你為什么要擔(dān)心它會塌下來呢?”

　　祀人問道：“天如果真的是一團(tuán)氣體的話，那么日月星辰會不會掉下來呢?”

　　那個人說：“日月星辰只不過是這團(tuán)氣體中會發(fā)光的東西罷了。即使掉下來，對人也不會有什么傷害的。”

　　祀人又問道：“那么，如果地陷下去了怎么辦呢?”

　　那個人說：“地只不過是堆積起來的土罷了，四面八方都是土。你每天都行走在大地上，為什么還要擔(dān)憂它會陷下去呢?”

　　祀人聽了，不但疑慮立刻消失了，而且十分高興。那個跑來開導(dǎo)的人，幫助祀人治好了憂郁癥，也十分高興。

　　 fancy

　　n.想像力，幻想;喜好，愛;adj.想像的，時髦的，華麗裝飾的，奢侈的;技巧的;vt.想象，自認(rèn)為，喜好

　　參考例句：

　　He seemed to have taken quite a fancy to her.他似乎相當(dāng)喜歡她。

　　I have a fancy that it's going to rain.我想大概要下雨。

　　 collapse

　　vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷

　　參考例句：

　　The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.國家的經(jīng)濟(jì)已到了崩潰的邊緣。

　　The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程師對橋的倒塌做了一次徹底的調(diào)查分析。

　　 enlighten

　　v.授予...知識，啟發(fā)，教導(dǎo)，開導(dǎo)

　　參考例句：

　　Can you enlighten her on this subject?對這個問題你能啟發(fā)啟發(fā)她嗎?

　　Please enlighten me with your instructions.請不吝賜教。

　　 vanished

　　adj.消失了的v.消失( vanish的過去式和過去分詞 );突然不見;不復(fù)存在;絕跡

　　參考例句：

　　He walked through—and vanished. Poof! Like that. 他走了過去，然后就嗖的一下子不見了。

　　The magician vanished in a puff of smoke. 魔術(shù)師在一股煙霧中突然不見了。

　　enlightened

　　a.開明的，有知識的

　　參考例句：

　　The teacher's words made me at once become enlightened. 老師的一席話使我頓開茅塞。

　　What she said enlightened all of us. 她一講，大家心里都亮堂了。