Chinese idioms：掩耳盗铃（Yǎn'ěr-dàolíng）

掩耳盗铃（Yǎn'ěr-dàolíng）
Cóngqián yǒu yí gè xiǎotōu, pǎo dào yí hù rénjiā lǐ xiǎng tōu diǎn dōngxī. Tā kànjiàn yuànzǐ lǐ guà zhe yì kǒu dàzhōng, gāoxìng jí le, xīnxiǎng: zhè kǒu zhōng yídìng hěn zhíqián! Yúshì, tā biàn xiǎng bǎ zhè kǒu zhōng bānhuí jiā qù. Kěshì, zhōng fēicháng chén, tā zěnme bān dōu bān bú dòng. Hòulái, tā xiǎng dào le yígè bànfǎ, nà jiùshì bǎ zhōng qiāosuì zhīhòu fènbié bān huíji. Xiǎo tōu zhǎo le yìbǎ dà chuízǐ, shǐjìn cháo zhōng záqù, kěshì, gāng yì zá jiù fā chū le hěndà de xiǎngshēng. Xiǎotōu huāng le, jímáng yòng shǒu wǔzhù ěrduǒ, jiéguǒ, zhōngshēng bújiàn le. Xiǎotōu xiǎng, wǔzhù zìjǐ de ěrduǒ, biérén jiù tīng bú jiàn zhōngshēng le, yúshì yòu kāishǐ zázhōng. Jiéguǒ, rénmen tīng dào zhōngshēng zhīhòu, quán dōu cóng jiā zhōng pǎo chūlái, yíxià jiù zhuāzhù le xiǎotōu.
从前有一个小偷，跑到一户人家里想偷点东西。他看见院子里挂着一口大钟，高兴极了，心想：这口钟一定很值钱！于是，他便想把这口钟搬回家去。可是，钟非常沉，他怎么搬都搬不动。后来，他想到了一个办法，那就是把钟敲碎之后分别搬回家。小偷找了一把大锤子，使劲朝钟砸去，可是，刚一砸就发出了很大的响声。小偷慌了，急忙用手捂住耳朵，结果，钟声不见了。小偷想，捂住自己的耳朵，别人就听不见钟声了，于是又开始砸钟。结果，人们听到钟声之后，全都从家中跑出来，一下就抓住了小偷。
Plug One's Ears While Stealing a Bell—Deceive Oneself
In the ancient time, there was a thief who went to someone's house to steal. He saw a big bell hanging in the courtyard. The thief was very happy and he thought the bell looked valuable. Then, he decided to carry this beautiful bell back home. But the bell was too big and heavy. No matter how hard he tried, he could not move it. Later, he thought there was only one way to solve the problem. He had to break down the bell into parts before he was able to carry them back to his home. The thief found a big iron hammer, with which he struck the bell with all his might. But the striking produced a loud noise and even scared the thief. But when he covered up his ears he could no longer hear the noise. The thief became cheerful at once and thought the sound of the bell would not be heard by anyone if he covered up his own ears. Feeling relieved, he began striking the bell again, one blow after another. The sound of the bell was heard at distant places, and finally people caught the thief from tracing the sound.
词语注释words
小偷：(xiǎo tōu) : thief (n.)
钟：(zhōng) : bell (n.)
值钱：(zhí qián) : valuable (adj.)
沉：(chén) : heavy (adj.)
敲碎：(qiāo suì) : break down into parts (v.)
锤子：(chuí zi) : hammer (n.)
砸：(zá) : pound; smash (v.)
慌：(huāng) : flurried (v.)

意义
Meanings
掩耳盗铃：本义是捂住耳朵偷铃（钟）。比喻自己欺骗自己，明明掩盖不了的事情偏要想办法去掩饰。
Its original meaning is to plug one's ear while stealing a bell. It can be used as a metaphor, referring to people who deceive themselves or try to cover up things that can not be concealed.
例句
Sentences
Zhèzhǒng zuòfǎ wúyí shì yǎn’ěr-dàolíng, zìjǐ qīpiàn zìjǐ.
这种做法无疑是掩耳盗铃，自己欺骗自己。
This way of doing things is undoubtedly like Yǎn'ěr-dàolíng. They are deceiving themselves.