Learn Chinese with @cn-reader: Idiom 掩耳盗铃

Idiom: 掩耳盗铃[yǎn ěr dào líng]

English means to plug ones ears while stealing a bell/ Like burying ones head in the sand / self-deceit.

In the past, there was a very rich family. There was a huge clock hang in the yard. The huge clock was made of high quality bronze and the shape and the design of huge clock was very exquisite. This message was spread among the town.

One day when a thief heard this information he made a decision to steal it. However the clock was very huge and heavy. The thief even couldn’t move it. He thought again and again, at last he decided to cracked the clock and moved them back home.

One day night, the thief took a hammer entering in the richer family yard. Then he tried his best to crack the huge clock. But big loud noise made him afraid and nervous. All persons would be awake because of loud noise. He immediately flung himself to the huge clock. He hoped to hide the noise. But the noise still spread to far distance.

Thief was more and more afraid, he covered his ears involuntarily. Suddenly he felt the noise was becoming small. At now he was so excited and thought that how excellent, if I cover my ears there is no one can hear noise. Then he found some cloth and put it to his ears.

Thief thought now was so safe, so he began to go on cracking the clock. But the result is clear, the big loud noise made all people awake, at last the thief was caught.

What the thief does is called self-deceit, the moral of the story is that those who seek to deceive others will only deceive themselves in the end.

从前有个大户人家院子里吊着一口大钟。钟是用上等青铜铸成的，造型和图案都很精美。村落里的小偷知道后心里高兴极了，想把这口精美的大钟背回自已家去。可是钟又大又重，怎么也挪不动。他想来想去，只有一个办法，那就是把钟敲碎，然后再分别搬回家

某夜，夜深人静后小偷找来一把大大锤潜入院落，拼命朝钟砸去，咣的一声巨响，把他吓了一大跳。小偷着慌，心想这下糟了，这种声不就等于是告诉人们我正在这里偷钟吗？他心里一急，身子一下子扑到了钟上，张开双臂想捂住钟声，可钟声又怎么捂得住呢！钟声依然悠悠地传向远方。

他越听越害怕，不同自由地抽回双手，使劲捂住自已的耳朵。“咦，钟声变小了，听不见了！”小偷高兴起来，“妙极了！把耳朵捂住不住就听不进钟声了吗！”他立刻找来两个布团，把耳朵塞住，心想，这下谁也听不见钟声了。于是就放手砸起钟来，一下一下，钟声响亮地传到很远的地方。人们听到钟声蜂拥而至把小偷捉住了。

@sunnyjolly