From where? Qin? Lv Buwei's Self-knowledge in the Spring and Autumn Period
Fan's death, the people have a clock. If you want to go negative, then the clock is too big to go negative; Destroyed by vertebrae, the bell rang. I'm afraid people will steal from me and cover their ears. The wicked smell it, too; Evil is self-loathing, and it is ridiculous.
Second, translation:
Fan was a nobleman in the state of Jin at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. After being defeated by four other nobles, he fled to Qi. A man stole a clock and tried to escape with it. However, this clock is too big to carry back. He intends to smash it with a hammer before carrying it back. Who knows, as soon as it was smashed, the bell made a loud noise. He was afraid that others would take it away when they heard the bell, so he quickly covered his ears and continued to knock. Fear of others hearing the sound of the clock is understandable; But it is ridiculous to cover your ears and think that others can't hear you.
Extended data
First, the implication of stealing a clock
The sound of the clock exists objectively. Whether you cover your ear or not, it always rings. Anything that wants to exist objectively does not depend on people's subjective will. Some people don't admit that they don't like the objective existence, thinking that it doesn't exist, which, like "stealing the bell", is the extreme expression of subjective idealism-solipsism.
Second, related idioms
Stealing a clock? [yǎn dào líng]？
Interpretation: cover: cover, cover; Steal: steal. Steal the bell and cover your ears for fear that others will hear you. Metaphorically, you are deceiving yourself, and you must try to cover up what you can't cover up clearly.
From: Qin? Lv Buwei's "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals: Self-knowledge": "If people have a clock and want to lose it, the clock is big and negative. Destroy it with vertebrae, and the bell will ring. I am afraid that people will smell it and take it away, covering their ears. "
Interpretation: People found a clock and wanted to run away with it. That clock can't be taken away directly. If you want to destroy it, move it. A clock is an instrument with sound. So stealing the bell is for fear that others will hear the sound and cover their ears.