In the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhi Bo, a nobleman of the state of Jin, wiped out the Fan clan. Someone took the opportunity to run to Fan's house to steal something, and saw a big bell hanging in the yard.

The bell was cast in fine bronze, with exquisite shapes and patterns. The thief was so happy that he wanted to carry the bell back to his house. But the clock is big and heavy,

how can not move. He thought that there was only one way to do it, and that was to break the bell,

and then carry it home separately.

The thief found a sledgehammer and tried his best to smash it against the clock, and bam, he

was startled. The thief panicked and thought to himself, "Oh no, isn't this sound like telling people that I am stealing the clock here? He was in a hurry, his body

lurched to the bell, opened his arms to cover the sound of the bell, but how can the sound of the bell muffle it! The sound of the bells still traveled far and wide.

The more he heard it, the more frightened he became, and he couldn't help but draw back his hands and cover his own ears as hard as he could. "Huh, the bells have gotten smaller, I can't hear them anymore!" The thief was

highly

excited, "Wonderful! If you cover your ears, you won't be able to hear the bells!" He immediately found two balls of cloth and stuffed his ears with them, thinking, "Now

no one can hear the bells. So he let go and smashed the bells, one at a time, and the sound of the bells carried loudly to a great distance. When people heard the sound of the bell, they flocked

and caught the thief.

The story is from "Lü Shi Chun Qiu - Self-knowledge" (吕氏春秋-自知), in which "Covering up the ears and stealing the bell" is said to be "Covering up the ears and stealing the bell", which is a metaphor for stupid and self-deceiving cover-up behavior.

Telling us not to deceive ourselves!