Covering the Ear and Stealing the Bell in the original Chinese text and its translation are as follows:

Originally, when the Fan died, the people got a bell, and wanted to take it away, but the bell was too big to be taken away; and when they destroyed it with a hammer, the bell made a sound. I was afraid that people would hear it and take it away from me, so I quickly covered my ears. It is permissible for people to hear it, but it is perverse for them to hear it themselves!

Translation: When Fan was fleeing, a man took the opportunity to steal a bell and tried to escape with it on his back. However, the bell was too big to carry, so he planned to smash it with a hammer before carrying it on his back. But when he smashed it, the clock banged loudly.

He was afraid that others would hear the sound of the bell and take it away from him, so he hurriedly covered his ears tightly and continued to knock. It is understandable that he was afraid that others would hear the sound of the bell, but to cover his ears and think that no one else could hear it is ridiculous.

Moral:

The meaning is that one covers one's ears when one steals a bell for fear that others will hear it. It is a metaphor for deceiving oneself and thinking of ways to cover up things that obviously cannot be covered up. The sound of the bell is objective, the bell ringing is objective, no matter you cover your ears, it is always going to ring, not because you block your ears on the disappearance; everything in the world is also objective, all to objectively exist, are not subjective will of the transfer of human beings, not because you close your eyes on the cease to exist or change the shape.

This fable is brief, but it is a vivid illustration of the basic principles of dialectical materialism: the objective existence of the reality is not to face up to, do not study, to take the attitude of closed eyes and ears, which is self-deceiving, and ultimately will eat their own bitter fruit.