Covering one's ears and stealing a bell means to cover one's ears and steal a bell, thinking that neither one nor others can hear. It is a metaphor for deceiving oneself and trying to cover up things that clearly cannot be covered up. To cover is to cover; to steal is to steal. It is a formal idiom, usually used as a predicate, attributive, and adverbial in a sentence; it refers to self-deception. Sentence reference: Trying to legitimize illegal behavior is just a trick.

Cover one's ears and steal the bell, pinyin is yǎn ěr dào líng, originally means cover one's ears and steal the bell, from "Lu's Spring and Autumn Period·Zizhi": "After the death of the Fan family, the common people had those who found the bell. They wanted to lose it and left. , then the bell cannot bear the weight; if the vertebrae are destroyed, the bell will still make a sound. If you are afraid that someone will hear it and take it away from you, you will suddenly cover your ears. If an evil person hears it, it is okay; if you want to hear it yourself, it is against the law."

Extended information

Synonyms with similar semantics to the word "hiding one's ears and stealing the bell" are:

① Self-defeating, pronounced nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō. I wanted to show off my cleverness, but ended up doing something stupid. Trying to use clever means, but the result is bad. This comes from Song Dynasty Huang Tingjian's "Ode to Zhuoxuan": "It is self-defeating; it is a snake's footwork."

② Cover your eyes to catch sparrows, the pronunciation is yǎn mù bǔ què , meaning to cover your eyes to catch flying birds, a metaphor for doing something blindly or deceiving yourself. From the "Three Kingdoms·Wei Zhi·Chen Lin Biography": "The "Book of Changes" says that 'the deer is not in danger', and the proverb goes like 'cover your eyes to catch the sparrows'. You can't cheat to achieve your goals with trivial things, but how can you deceive your country's major events? "

③ Cover the nose to steal the fragrance, pronounced as yǎn bí tōu xiāng, which is a metaphor for deceiving oneself. It comes from "Wudeng Huiyuan·Ma Jia Benkong Zen Master" by Shi Puji of the Song Dynasty: "The master said: 'On the program Rebirth program. 'The monk is speechless.' The teacher said: 'Covering one's nose to steal fragrance is nothing but attracting criminals. Things that cannot be covered up. From "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals: Self-Knowledge": "Some people in the common people want to carry the bell and walk away, but the bell is too big to bear, so they destroy it with the vertebrae. The bell still has a sound, and they are afraid that people will hear it and snatch it away, so they suddenly cover their ears. . ”

⑤A leaf blinds one’s eyes, pronounced as yí yè zhàng mù, which means that a leaf blocking one’s eyes makes one unable to see the vast world outside. Metaphor of being confused by a local or temporary phenomenon. The story warns us that we must see the whole picture of things, and we must not blindly believe or worship blindly. We must undergo scientific investigation and verification, and treat them with humility and prudence.