How to understand Hegel's sentence

This sentence comes from the following story. Hegel said this sentence after listening to this story:

On an autumn night, Thales, an ancient Greek philosopher, was observing the stars on the grass. He looked up at the stars, only to find that there was a deep pit in front of him and he fell. Although the water only reached his chest, it was two or three meters from the ground, and he had to shout for help. A passerby saved him. He said to the man, "It will rain tomorrow!" The man smiled and shook his head, telling Thales' prediction as a joke. The next day, if it rains, people are amazed at his rich knowledge of meteorology, but some people disagree, saying that Thales knows things in the sky, but he can't see things under his feet.

My understanding is that a pit is a trough, and the high altitude in front of me is equivalent to a lofty ideal.

Lying in the pit is content with the status quo, at a low point, and not looking up at the sky is short-sighted and has no ambition. I don't think so. Such people will not fall into the pit: they are already at a low point, have no lofty ideals and ambitions, and are still content with the status quo. How can they fall into the pit?

My understanding may not be very accurate. There are still a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people. If you want to know what feelings Hegel wanted to express at that time, you can only dig him out and have a look, but I don't think I will dig up his old man's house and tell you, but I am sure that Hegel's sentence has obvious irony.