掩耳盗铃

yǎněrdàolíng

Meaning: to deceive oneself

Story:

A long time ago, there was a person that wanted to steal a bell. The bell was so huge and he could not carry it. "What should I do? aha...I should break it into pieces and bring it back!"

So he took a hammer and start to hit the bell, attempt to break it. But the sound of the bell is loud, it shocked him and he immediately cover his ears. Since he could not hear the bell, he assume that other won't be able to hear it and continue hitting the bell. He was caught very soon.

This story shows that you may try to trick others with your own ways, but people will always know the thing you did.

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有个人要偷一口钟。钟很大，他抱也抱不动，背也背不走。怎么办呢？他想不如把大钟砸碎了，把碎铜一块一块搬回家去，于是举起铁锤就砸。没想到大钟“当”地一声，把他吓了一大跳。他只怕让别人听见，急忙双手捂住自己的耳朵，以为自己听不见钟声，别人也就听不见钟声了。
“掩耳盗铃”就是从这个故事来的。“盗”就是“偷”。故事说的“偷钟”，成语说的“偷铃”，意思是一样的。有人干了坏事，想尽办法遮盖，自以为遮盖得很巧妙，可是别人决不会不知道，这种想瞒过别人结果只是骗了自己的做法，可以说是“掩耳盗铃”。

Translator: @asianetwork