掩耳盗铃 literally means 'covering one's own ears while stealing a bell' — a story about a thief who fools only himself, teaching kids that pretending a problem doesn't exist never makes it disappear for anyone else.
Character by character
掩
yǎn
to cover
耳
ěr
ear
盗
dào
to steal
铃
líng
bell
Audio coming soon
从前，有个人路过一户人家门口，看见院子里挂着一口大钟，铜光闪闪，可漂亮了。他心里一动：这钟要是能偷回家，卖了准能发一笔财！
可是钟又大又重，怎么搬得动呢？他围着钟转了好几圈，最后想出一个办法：把钟敲碎，分成几块，不就能扛走了吗？
说干就干，他抡起一把大锤子，对着钟狠狠一敲——
“哐！”一声巨响，震得他耳朵嗡嗡直响，连远处的人都听见了。
他吓了一跳，心想：这么大的声音，岂不是要把左邻右舍都招来了？
他左思右想，忽然灵机一动，捂住自己的耳朵，喃喃自语：“我把耳朵捂住，不就听不见了吗？听不见，别人应该也听不见吧！”
于是他一手捂着耳朵，一手抡起锤子，继续“哐哐哐”地砸了起来。
结果呢？街坊邻居早就被这响声引了过来，把他堵了个正着，当场把他捉住送去了官府。
这就是掩耳盗铃的故事。自己骗自己，可骗不了别人。
这个故事告诉我们：
遇到问题要勇敢面对，而不是闭上眼睛、捂上耳朵，假装它不存在。
Once, a man was passing by someone's house and spotted a large bronze bell hanging in the courtyard, gleaming in the sun. "If I could steal that bell," he thought, "I could sell it and make a fortune!" But the bell was far too big and heavy to carry away in one piece. After walking around it several times, he came up with an idea: break it into smaller pieces so he could carry it off bit by bit.
He picked up a heavy hammer and swung it hard at the bell. CLANG! The sound was so loud it rang in his own ears — and could be heard far and wide. Startled, he thought, "That noise is going to bring the whole neighborhood running!"
Then he had what he thought was a clever idea. He covered his own ears with his hands and muttered to himself, "If I cover my ears, I can't hear it. And if I can't hear it, surely no one else can either!" Feeling reassured, he kept one hand over his ears and swung the hammer again and again with the other.
Of course, the neighbors had already heard the loud clanging and came running to see what was happening. They caught him red-handed and marched him straight to the local officials.
This story shows why fooling yourself never fools reality:
In short: You can trick yourself into feeling better, but you can never trick the real world into changing.
