One day, a merchant arrived in a small town selling bells.
有一天，小镇上来了一个卖铃铛的商人。
His bells were big and loud, attracting many people.
他的铃铛又大又响，引来了许多人的围观。
A thief saw this and came up with a plan to steal one.
一个小偷看到后，心生一计，决定偷走铃铛。
He looked around and saw no one nearby.
他看四周没人，便悄悄地靠近铃铛。
He thought, "The bell is big, so it will surely make noise."
他想：“铃铛这么大，肯定能听到声音。”
So, he covered his own ears with a cloth.
于是，他拿出一块布，捂住自己的耳朵。
He believed that if he couldn't hear the sound, no one else could.
他认为这样就能把铃铛的声音掩盖住，不被发现。
He carefully placed the bell into his bag and prepared to leave.
小偷偷偷地把铃铛放进袋子里，准备离开。
However, the loud ringing had already drawn the townspeople's attention.
但他没有注意到，铃铛的铃声已经被大家听见。
The people quickly noticed the thief and started chasing him.
镇上的人立刻发现了小偷，纷纷追了上去。
The thief ran as fast as he could, thinking, "I covered my ears, so no one heard it!"
小偷急忙逃跑，心里还想着：“我捂住耳朵，没人能听见铃声。”
But the truth was obvious—everyone had already heard the bell.
可是，镇上的人早已发现了他的行为，怎么可能放过他呢？
In the end, the thief was caught.
最后，小偷被抓住了。
He lowered his head in shame, realizing he had only fooled himself.
他羞愧地低下头，意识到自己根本骗不了别人。
"Covering one's ears to steal a bell" means deceiving oneself by ignoring obvious facts.
掩耳盗铃，比喻自己欺骗自己，做事时忽视明显的事实，最后自食其果。
