Chinese Idiom Stories 2 · chapter 3 of 6
The Noisy Bell
掩耳盗铃
Late one night, Li San creeps up to an empty house to take the big bell on its gate. There's just one problem: bells ring. Luckily, Li San has a brilliant idea.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 这个故事叫“掩耳盗铃”。很久以前，晋国有一家人，姓范。
Zhège gùshi jiào “yǎn'ěr dàolíng”. Hěn jiǔ yǐqián, Jìnguó yǒu yì jiā rén, xìng Fàn.
This story is called “Cover Your Ears to Steal a Bell.” Long, long ago, in the state of Jin, there lived a family named Fan.
- Li San 范家的人都走了，门口一个人也没有……
Fàn jiā de rén dōu zǒu le, ménkǒu yí gè rén yě méiyǒu…
The Fans have all gone away. There's not a soul at the gate…
- Li San 可是，大门上的铃还在！这个铃，真大，真好看！
Kěshì, dàmén shang de líng hái zài! Zhège líng, zhēn dà, zhēn hǎokàn!
But the bell on their gate is still here! What a big bell, and what a beauty!
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Chinese Idiom Stories 2 is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Li San 李三啊李三，这么大的铃，能卖很多很多钱！
Lǐ Sān a Lǐ Sān, zhème dà de líng, néng mài hěn duō hěn duō qián!
Li San, old boy, a bell this big will sell for lots and lots of money!
- Li San 我来拿……当！当！不好，它响了！
Wǒ lái ná… dāng! Dāng! Bù hǎo, tā xiǎng le!
Let me just take it… clang! Clang! Oh no, it's ringing!
- Li San 别响，别响！大家都会听见的！
Bié xiǎng, bié xiǎng! Dàjiā dōu huì tīngjiàn de!
Stop ringing, stop ringing! Everyone will hear!
- Li San 怎么办？铃响了，我的耳朵就听见了……
Zěnme bàn? Líng xiǎng le, wǒ de ěrduo jiù tīngjiàn le…
What do I do? When the bell rings, my ears hear it…
- Li San 有了！我的耳朵听不见，铃就不响了！
Yǒu le! Wǒ de ěrduo tīng bú jiàn, líng jiù bù xiǎng le!
I've got it! If my ears can't hear it, the bell won't be ringing!
- Narrator 李三用左手捂上耳朵，用右手去拿铃。
Lǐ Sān yòng zuǒshǒu wǔ shang ěrduo, yòng yòushǒu qù ná líng.
Li San covered his ear with his left hand and reached for the bell with his right.
- Li San 好了！我什么也听不见了！真安静！
Hǎo le! Wǒ shénme yě tīng bú jiàn le! Zhēn ānjìng!
There! I can't hear a thing! Lovely and quiet!
- Narrator 可是，铃在他的手里，一直响，一直响。
Kěshì, líng zài tā de shǒu lǐ, yìzhí xiǎng, yìzhí xiǎng.
But in his hand, the bell rang and rang and rang.
- Auntie Wang 谁啊？这么晚了，谁在门口打铃？
Shéi a? Zhème wǎn le, shéi zài ménkǒu dǎ líng?
Who's there? Who's ringing a bell at the gate at this time of night?
- Li San 没有人！铃也没有响！
Méiyǒu rén! Líng yě méiyǒu xiǎng!
Nobody! And the bell isn't ringing!
- Auntie Wang 没有人？那是谁在说话？……李三！是你！
Méiyǒu rén? Nà shì shéi zài shuōhuà? … Lǐ Sān! Shì nǐ!
Nobody? Then who's talking? … Li San! It's you!
- Li San 什么？王大妈，我听不见！
Shénme? Wáng dàmā, wǒ tīng bú jiàn!
What's that, Auntie Wang? I can't hear you!
- Auntie Wang 你听不见，我听得见！大家都听见了！
Nǐ tīng bú jiàn, wǒ tīng de jiàn! Dàjiā dōu tīngjiàn le!
You can't hear it, but I can! Everybody can!
- Li San 我……我没有拿铃！我在帮范家看门！
Wǒ… wǒ méiyǒu ná líng! Wǒ zài bāng Fàn jiā kānmén!
I… I wasn't taking the bell! I'm guarding the gate for the Fan family!
- Auntie Wang 看门？看门要捂耳朵吗？
Kānmén? Kānmén yào wǔ ěrduo ma?
Guarding the gate? Since when does guarding a gate mean covering your ears?
- Auntie Wang 你的耳朵听不见，铃就不响了吗？
Nǐ de ěrduo tīng bú jiàn, líng jiù bù xiǎng le ma?
So if your ears can't hear it, the bell stops ringing?
- Li San 不响了吗？……它还在响！
Bù xiǎng le ma? … Tā hái zài xiǎng!
It stopped, didn't it? … It's still ringing!
- Auntie Wang 快把铃放回去！
Kuài bǎ líng fàng huíqù!
Now put that bell back where it belongs!
- Auntie Wang 捂上自己的耳朵，拿别人的铃……你这是“掩耳盗铃”！
Wǔ shang zìjǐ de ěrduo, ná biérén de líng… nǐ zhè shì “yǎn'ěr dàolíng”!
Covering your own ears while you take somebody else's bell… you really are covering your ears to steal a bell!
- Li San 掩耳盗铃？好吧，好吧……别笑我！还有人比我更好笑呢！
Yǎn'ěr dàolíng? Hǎo ba, hǎo ba… bié xiào wǒ! Hái yǒu rén bǐ wǒ gèng hǎoxiào ne!
Covering my ears to steal a bell? All right, all right… but don't laugh at me! There's someone even funnier than me!
- Auntie Wang 比你还好笑？是谁？
Bǐ nǐ hái hǎoxiào? Shì shéi?
Funnier than you? Who?
- Li San 楚国有一个叶公。他天天说：“我最喜欢龙！”
Chǔguó yǒu yí gè Yègōng. Tā tiāntiān shuō: “Wǒ zuì xǐhuan lóng!”
Over in Chu there's a nobleman called Lord Ye. Every day he says, “I love dragons more than anything!”
- Auntie Wang 喜欢龙？那有什么好笑的？
Xǐhuan lóng? Nà yǒu shénme hǎoxiào de?
He loves dragons? What's so funny about that?
- Li San 有一天，天上的龙，真的来找他了！
Yǒu yì tiān, tiān shang de lóng, zhēn de lái zhǎo tā le!
One day, a real dragon came down from the sky to visit him!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does Li San want the bell?
“这么大的铃，能卖很多很多钱！”
- What does Li San think makes a bell ring?
“我的耳朵听不见，铃就不响了！”
- What does Li San do with his two hands?
“用左手捂上耳朵，用右手去拿铃。”
- What excuse does Li San give Auntie Wang?
“我在帮范家看门！”
- Why does Auntie Wang laugh at him?
“你听不见，我听得见！大家都听见了！”