杞人憂天

Fear is often greater than the danger.

杞人憂天

In the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時(shí)期,770-476 BC), in the State of Qi there was a man who always let his imagination run away with him.

春秋戰(zhàn)國(guó)時(shí)期，杞國(guó)有個(gè)人喜歡胡思亂想。

One day he even worried that the sky would fall on his head. He was so worried that he could neither eat nor sleep.

一天，他竟然擔(dān)憂天會(huì)塌下來(lái)，地會(huì)陷下去，自己無(wú)處存身。這個(gè)人越想越害怕，便整天愁眉苦臉，坐立不安，睡不好覺(jué)，吃不下飯。

Later, someone persuade him that his fears were groundless.

后來(lái)，有個(gè)人就去開(kāi)導(dǎo)他，那個(gè)杞國(guó)人聽(tīng)后，才放下了心。

This idioms satirizes those who worry unnecessarily.

成語(yǔ)杞人憂天譏笑那些沒(méi)有必要或毫無(wú)根據(jù)的憂慮。

【文化鏈接】

英文中“杞人憂天”可以用“Fear is often greater than the danger. ”來(lái)表達(dá)，直譯也就是“恐懼往往已經(jīng)超過(guò)了面臨的危險(xiǎn)”，這樣講就十分容易理解了~

動(dòng)畫片《老虎和兔子》的第四回的標(biāo)題就是“Fear is often greater than the danger. ”而其中文譯名就是“恐懼往往比危險(xiǎn)更強(qiáng)大(與其杞人憂天、不如放手一搏)”。