36. Clear as a Bell
掩耳盜鈴
範氏是當地名門望族，家宅極大。一天，他們決定在家宅的外牆邊上加一口大鐘，許多人前來觀摩。其中不乏心思齷齪者，想偷了鍾換錢。此人在夜裡偷盜時卻發現自己背不動這口鐘，於是決定把鍾砸碎。但用錘子砸鍾會發出很大的響聲，為了不讓別人發現，此人將自己的耳朵塞住，這樣就再也聽不到砸鐘的巨響了。小偷能得償所願嗎？The noble Fan family in ancient China lived in a grand house. A tall, brick wall with doors protected the entrance of their house.One day, they decided to add a large bell to the outside of the entry wall. The bell was huge! It measured two meters high by one and a half meters wide. It took six men to lift the bell and hang it on four wooden posts.The villagers came to admire the beautiful brass bell.「Look how big and grand it is!」 said the farmer.Wen Shao, a local thief, watched from under a shady tree nearby. 「I can sell that bell for a lot of money! Heh, heh, I shall be rich!」 Wen rubbed his palms together greedily.Late that night Wen crept to the Fan house. His eyes lit up like fireballs when he saw the bell up close. He got so excited that he kissed it!「Mmmmwah!」 his lips smacked against the bell.He looked sneakily to the left, then to the right. There was no one around.「Heh, heh,」 Wen snickered. 「Everyone is sound asleep. This is my chance!」But when he tried to lift the bell, it didn’t budge. 「Ugh! Ugh! Ooch!」 cried Wen.He bent his legs low and tried to lift the bell from the bottom. It didn’t move. He grabbed it from the top and tried to lift it over his shoulders. It didn’t move. He pulled it from the right side. It didn’t move. He pulled it from the left side. It didn’t move.Wen crinkled his brows. He walked around the bell, checking all the sides. He paced back and forth in front of the bell, thinking.「What to do? What to do?」 thought Wen as he paced.「Think! Think!」 He told himself as he tapped his finger on his forehead.Suddenly, Wen had an idea!「I will smash the bell,」 Wen said. 「It will break into many small pieces. It will be easy for me to carry the pieces.」Wen felt proud of himself and his brilliant solution.「Heh, heh,」 laughed Wen. 「I’m a genius!」He found a big rock under a nearby tree. He slammed the rock against the bell.The loud sound hurt Wen’s ears. He covered them with both hands and stumbled backward.「Aiya!」 cried Wen. 「My ears! My ears!」Wen knew that if he banged the bell with the rock again, the bell would again hurt his ears.「What to do? What to do?」 thought Wen as he paced.Suddenly, Wen had an idea!He ripped off a small piece of fabric from the end of his shirt. He rolled it into a ball. Then he stuck it into his right ear. He did the same with another piece of fabric and stuck that into his left ear.「Heh, heh,」 laughed Wen. 「I’m a genius! Now, I can’t hear anything.」Wen picked up the rock again and slammed it against the bell, over and over.「BONG! BONG! CLANG! CLANG!」The loud bell woke up the sleeping villagers. They ran out to the Fan’s house.They found Wen smashing the rock against the bell.「Stop!」 cried the town mayor.「You’re making a racket!」 cried a woman. 「Stop right now!」「What are you doing to the bell?」 cried the cobbler.The villagers were angry. One of them pulled off the scarf around Wen’s face.Wen looked around at the crowd, confused.「Huh? How did you hear?」 he asked them. 「I plugged my ears. There wasn’t any noise!」The moral of this idiom is: if you try to fool others, you are only fooling yourself.
Question: What do you think was Wen’s biggest mistake?
核心詞彙
brick n. 磚頭
entrance n. 入口
entry n. 進入（權）
brass n. 黃銅
rub v. 摩擦
palm n. 手掌，手心
greedily adv. 貪婪地
creep crept. v. 匍匐，緩慢（或悄悄）地行進
smack v. 咂（嘴）
sneakily adv. 偷偷摸摸地，鬼鬼祟祟地
budge v. 微微移動，挪動
crinkle v. 起皺，成波狀
brow n. 眉毛
tap v. （常指連續）輕叩，輕敲
smash v. 打破，打碎
stumble v. 絆倒，跌跌撞撞地走
bang v. 猛擊，猛撞
rip off 撕掉
fabric n. 布料
roll v. 滾
mayor n. 市長，此處指代當地長官
make a racket n. 大聲喧譁
cobbler n. 製鞋匠
plug v. 把……塞住
It measured two meters high by one and a half meters wide. 這口鐘高兩米，寬1.5米。本句中的measure為系動詞，後面直接加數字，表示量度為……
以下翻譯來自百度翻譯：
中國古代的範氏家族住在一座宏偉的房子裡，一堵高高的磚牆把門擋住了他們的大門。一天，他們決定在入口牆外面加一個大鐘。鈴很大！它高兩米，寬一米半。六個人把鍾舉起來掛在四根木柱上。當地的小偷文韶在附近一棵樹蔭下觀看。「我可以用很多錢賣掉那個鈴鐺！嘿嘿，我會發財的！」溫貪婪地搓著手。那天深夜，溫悄悄地來到風扇房。當他近距離看到鍾時，他的眼睛像火球一樣亮了起來。他激動得吻了它！他偷偷地看了看左邊，然後又看了看右邊。周圍沒有人。「嘿嘿，」溫竊笑道。「大家都睡著了。這是我的機會！」但是，當他試圖提起鈴時，鈴沒有動。「啊！啊！啊！」溫叫道。他把腿彎得很低，試圖把鍾從底部抬起來。它一動不動。他從頂部抓住它，試圖把它舉過肩膀。它一動不動。他從右邊把它拔了出來。它一動不動。他從左邊拔了下來。它一動不動。溫皺起眉頭。他繞著門鈴走了一圈，檢查了四周。他在門鈴前來回踱步，思考著。「想一想！想一想！」他一邊用手指輕拍額頭一邊告訴自己。溫家寶說：「我會砸碎鍾。」。「它會碎裂成許多小塊。我搬運這些小塊會很容易。」他在附近的一棵樹下發現了一塊大石頭。他把石頭砰地一聲撞在鐘上。那響亮的聲音刺痛了溫的耳朵。他用雙手蓋住他們，踉踉蹌蹌地後退。溫家寶知道，如果他再次用石頭敲鐘，鍾會再次刺痛他的耳朵。他從襯衫末端撕下一小塊布。他把它滾成一個球。然後他把它塞進右耳。他用另一塊布做了同樣的事情，然後把它塞進左耳。「嘿嘿，」溫笑著說。「我是個天才！現在，我什麼都聽不見了。」「哈？你怎麼聽到的？」他問他們。「我塞住耳朵，沒有任何聲音！」文章及音頻均來自網絡，如有侵權，請聯繫刪除！