This fable describes backstory / origination of the idiom 掩耳盗铃 yǎn ěr dào líng, which literally translates as “to plug one’s ears while stealing a bell”, and meaning “to bury one’s head in the sand”, or “to deceive oneself”.
春秋时侯，晋国贵族智伯灭掉了范氏。有人趁机跑到范氏家里想偷点东西，看见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。小偷心里高兴极了，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。 小偷找来一把大大锤，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。
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| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 春秋 | Chūn qīu | Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC); Spring and Autumn Annals, chronicle of Lu State (722-481 BC) |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 侯 | hōu | marquis; nobleman; surname Hou |
| 晋 | jìn | to advance; Jin (state) |
| 国 | Guó | surname Guo |
| 贵族 | guì zú | lord; nobility; nobleman; noblewoman; aristocrat; aristocracy |
| 智 | zhì | (literary) wise; wisdom |
| 伯 | bō | uncle; the eldest among brothers; (honorific) count |
| 灭 | miè | to extinguish or put out; to go out (of a fire etc); to exterminate or wipe out; to drown |
| 掉 | diào | to fall; to drop; to lag behind; to lose; to go missing; to reduce; fall (in prices); to lose (value, weight etc); to wag; to swing; to turn; to change; to exchange; to swap; to sh… |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 范 | fǎn | pattern; example |
| 氏 | shì | (bound form) family name; surname (as in 王氏[Wang2 shi4] "the Wang clan"); (bound form) maiden name; née (as in 李王氏[Li3 Wang2 shi4] "Mrs. Li, née Wang"); (bound form) honorific suff… |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people; anyone; there is someone there; occupied (as in restroom) |
| 趁 | chěn | to avail oneself of |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 家里 | jiā lǐ | home |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 偷 | tou | to steal; to snatch; stealthily |
| 点 | diǎn | to touch briefly; to tap; to mark with a dot; to check off (on a list); to order (food etc); to select; to mention; to bring up (a topic or person); to hint at; to imply; to admini… |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 院子 | yuàn zi | courtyard; garden; yard; patio; CL:個|个[ge4]; (old) servant |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 吊 | diǎo | to suspend; to hang a person |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 一口 | yī kǒu | readily; flatly (deny, admit and so on); a mouthful; a bite |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 钟 | Zhōng | surname Zhong; a (large) bell (CL:架[jia4]); clock (CL:座[zuo4]); amount of time; o'clock (CL:點|点[dian3],分[fen1],秒[miao3]) (as in 三點鐘|三点钟[san1 dian3 zhong1] "three o'clock" or "three hours" or 五分鐘|… |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 上等 | shàng děng | highest quality; top-notch |
| 青铜 | qīng tóng | bronze (alloy of copper 銅|铜 and tin 錫|锡[xi1]) |
| 铸 | ||
| 成 | Chéng | surname Cheng; short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1] |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 造 | zǎo | to make; to manufacture; to fabricate; party (in a lawsuit or legal agreement); classifier for crops |
| 型 | xīng | mold; style |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 图 | tú | diagram; picture; drawing; chart; map; CL:張|张[zhang1]; to plan; to scheme; to attempt; to pursue; to seek |
| 案 | ǎn | (legal) case; record; table |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 精美 | jīng měi | exquisite; elegant; fine |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 心里 | xīn li | chest; heart; mind |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood |
| 极 | jí | extremely; pole (geography, physics); utmost; top |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 口 | kǒu | mouth; classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc); classifier for bites or mouthfuls |
| 背 | běi | the back; behind (bei4); to recite from memory (bei4); to carry on the back (bei1) |
| 回 | Huí | Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); to curve; to return; to revolve; variant of 迴|回[hui2] |
| 自 | zì | (bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally; as a matter of course |
| 已 | yǐ | already; to stop; then; afterwards |
| 家去 | jiā qù | (dialect) to go home; to return home |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 重 | chóng | to repeat; repetition; again; re-; classifier: layer |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 挪 | nuō | to shift |
| 不动 | bù dòng | motionless |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 只有 | zhǐ yǒu | only have ...; there is only ...; (used in combination with 才[cai2]) it is only if ... (that one can ...) (as in 只有通過治療才能痊愈|只有通过治疗才能痊愈[zhi3 you3 tong1 guo4 zhi4 liao2 cai2 neng2 qu… |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 办 | bàn | to take care of (a matter); to deal with (a task, procedure etc); to organize (an event); to establish; to set up; to manage; to run (an enterprise); (law) to handle; to investigat… |
| 法 | fǎ | variant of 法[fa3]; France; French; abbr. for 法國|法国[Fa3 guo2]; Taiwan pr. [Fa4]; old variant of 法[fa3]; law |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 就是 | jìu shì | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if |
| 敲 | qiāo | to hit; to strike; to tap; to rap; to knock; to rip sb off; to overcharge |
| 碎 | suì | (transitive or intransitive) to break into pieces; to shatter; to crumble; broken; fragmentary; scattered; garrulous |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
| 分别 | fēn bié | to part; to leave each other; to distinguish; to tell apart; difference; distinction; in different ways; differently; separately; individually; respectively |
| 搬 | bān | to move (i.e. relocate oneself); to move (sth relatively heavy or bulky); to shift; to copy indiscriminately |
| 回家 | huí jiā | to return home |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find; to look for; to call on sb; to find; to seek; to return; to give change |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 大大 | dà dà | greatly; enormously; (dialect) dad; uncle |
| 锤 | ||
| 拼 | pin | to piece together; to put together; to risk all; to go all out |
| 命 | mǐng | life; order or command |
| 朝 | Cháo | abbr. for 朝鮮|朝鲜[Chao2 xian3] Korea |
| 砸 | zā | to smash; to fail; to bungle |
| 咣 | ||
| 一声 | yī shēng | first tone in Mandarin (high, level tone) |
| 巨响 | jù xiǎng | loud sound |
| 吓 | xiǎ | to scare; to threaten; (interjection showing astonishment) |
| 跳 | tiào | to jump; to hop; to skip over; to bounce; to palpitate |
| 慌 | huang | to get panicky; to lose one's head |
| 心想 | xīn xiǎng | to think to oneself; to think |
| 这下 | zhè xià | this time |
| 糟 | zao | dregs; pickled in wine; messy |
| 这种 | zhè zhǒng | this kind of |
| 声 | shēng | sound; voice; tone; noise; reputation; classifier for sounds |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 等于 | děng yú | to equal; to be tantamount to |
| 告 | gào | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 诉 | sù | variant of 訴|诉[su4]; to complain; to sue; to tell |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 正 | zhēng | first month of the lunar year |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 这里 | zhè lǐ | variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3] |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 急 | jí | urgent; pressing; rapid; hurried; worried; to make (sb) anxious |
| 身子 | shēn zi | body; pregnancy; health |
| 一下子 | yī xià zi | once; one time; (following a verb) for a moment; briefly; for a little while; in no time; almost immediately; all at once; all of a sudden |
| 扑 | pu | to throw oneself at; to devote one's energies; to flutter; to pat |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 张开 | zhāng kāi | to open up; to spread; to extend |
| 双 | shuāng | variant of 雙|双[shuang1]; surname Shuang |
| 臂 | bǐ | arm |
| 捂 | ||
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 钟声 | zhōng shēng | the sound of a bell |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation… |
| 依 | yi | to depend on; according to |
| 悠 | you | long or drawn out; leisurely; pensive |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 传 | chuān | to pass on; to transmit; to transfer; to conduct (electricity) |
| 向 | Xiàng | surname Xiang; to tend toward; to guide; variant of 向[xiang4]; variant of 向[xiang4]; direction; orientation; to face; to turn toward; to; towards; shortly before; formerly |
| 远方 | yuǎn fāng | far away; a distant location |
| 越 | Yuè | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 |
| 听 | yǐn | smile (archaic); to listen to; to hear; to heed; to obey; a can (loanword from English "tin"); classifier for canned beverages; to let be; to allow (Taiwan pr. [ting4]); (literary) to administer; t… |
| 害怕 | hài pà | to be afraid; to be scared |
| 不同 | bù tóng | different; distinct; not the same; not alike |
| 自由 | zì yóu | freedom; liberty; free; unrestricted |
| 抽 | chōu | to draw out; to pull out from in between; to remove part of the whole; to inhale (esp. smoke); (of fabric etc) to shrink; (of certain plants) to sprout; to bud; to whip; to thrash;… |
| 双手 | shuāng shǒu | both hands |
| 使 | shǐ | to make; to cause; to enable; to use; to employ; to send; to instruct sb to do sth; envoy; messenger |
| 劲 | jìn | strength; energy; enthusiasm; spirit; mood; expression; interest; CL:把[ba3]; Taiwan pr. [jing4] |
| 耳 | ěr | ear; handle (archaeology); and that is all (Classical Chinese) |
| 朵 | duó | flower; fig. item on both sides |
| 咦 | ||
| 变 | biàn | to change; to become different; to transform; to vary; rebellion |
| 听不见 | tīng bu jiàn | not be able to hear |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; sta… |
| 妙 | miào | clever; wonderful; variant of 妙[miao4] |
| 进 | jìn | to go forward; to advance; to go in; to enter; to put in; to submit; to take in; to admit; (math.) base of a number system; classifier for sections in a building or residential com… |
| 立刻 | lì kè | immediately; at once; right away |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 布 | bù | variant of 布[bu4]; to announce; to spread; cloth; to declare; to announce; to spread; to make known |
| 团 | tuán | round; lump; ball; to roll into a ball; to gather; regiment; group; society; classifier for a lump or a soft mass: wad (of paper), ball (of wool), cloud (of smoke); dumpling |
| 塞 | sai | to plug; to stop up; to stuff in |
| 谁 | shéi | who; also pr. [shui2] |
| 于是 | yú shì | thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence |
| 放手 | fàng shǒu | to let go one's hold; to give up; to have a free hand |
| 一下 | yī xià | (after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly |
| 响亮 | xiǎng liàng | loud and clear; resounding |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc) |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 听到 | tīng dào | to hear |
| 蜂拥 | fēng yōng | to swarm; to flock; to throng |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 至 | zhì | to arrive; most; to; until |
| 捉 | zhuo | to clutch; to capture |
During the Spring and Autumn period, Nobleman ZhiBo of the Jin state eliminated the Fan clan [in battle]. There was a person who sought to take advantage of the defeated [and thus absent] Fan clan to steal some things from their house, and he saw that in their yard dangled a large bell. The bell was molded from the finest bronze, its shape and design were very fine indeed. The thief was extremely happy, thinking to take this refined bell and carry it back to his own house. But the bell was both big and heavy, and howsoever he tried, he couldn’t move it. He thought and thought, and came up with just one solution, which was to break the bell to bits, then take the pieces separately back to his house. The thief found a sledgehammer, and swung at the bell with all his might. A loud “gong” sound rang out, startling the thief. The thief panicked, thinking this [enterprise] was spoiled, thinking “that kind of noise is tantamount to telling people that I’m here stealing the bell, isn’t it?” He was worried, and he flung is body at the bell, stretching his arms around it to try to still the sound, but really how could he stop it? The sound went on and on, ringing far and wide.
The longer he heard it, the more afraid he became, and withdrew his hands to press them against his ears with all his strength. “Yi, the sound has lessened, I can’t hear it anymore!” The thief became happy again, “How wonderful! If I cover my ears well, the sound can’t be heard!” covered his ears well, he couldn’t hear the sound at all! He immediately found two pieces of cloth and stopped up his ears, thinking that this way, no one else could hear the bell’s sound either. So he began smashing the bell, hitting it again and again, the ringing of the bell being heard even in far away places. People heard the bells sounds and came in great numbers, catching the thief.