原标题：用英语讲中国故事 | Clear as a Bell 震耳欲聋的钟声（附音频）

今天要讲的是“小偷与大钟”的故事，没错，就是大家熟悉的成语故事——"掩耳盗铃”。

在英文故事中，愚蠢的小偷为了把大钟偷走，都想了哪些法子呢？他又是如何自欺欺人的？一起来听听吧！

Vicky

成长在新西兰，教育学硕士, 持有国际英语教师资格证(TESOL)，宝妈一枚。

Clear as a Bell

震耳欲聋的钟声

The noble Fan family in ancient China lived in a grand house. One day, they decided to add a large bell to the outside of the the house. The bell was huge! It took six men to lift the bell and hang it on the wooden posts.

在古代中国，贵族范氏住在一座富丽堂皇的房子里。一天，他们决定在房子外面放一口钟。钟可大了，六个人费了九牛二虎之力才把它抬起来挂在木桩上。

The villagers came to admire the beautiful brass bell.

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.

村民们都来欣赏这口漂亮的铜钟。

村里一个名叫温绍的小偷也在旁边一棵茂密的树下观望。

“我可以把那口钟卖很多钱! 呵呵，我要发财了!”温贪婪地搓着手说。

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!

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!"

那天深夜，温悄悄来到范家房子外面。当他近距离看到大钟时，眼睛顿时亮得像火球一样，兴奋得忍不住亲了一口大钟!

他鬼鬼祟祟地左看看，右瞧瞧，周围一个人也没有。

“嘿嘿，”温偷笑道，“大家都睡得死死的，我的机会来了!”

But when he tried to lift the bell, it didn't budge.

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.

可当温想把大钟提起来的时候，大钟却纹丝不动。

他把腿弯得低低的，试图从底部把大钟扛起来，大钟一动不动。

他从上面抓住大钟，想把它举过肩膀，大钟还是一动都没动。

他从右边拉，大钟没有动。他从左边拉，大钟依然没有动。

Wen crinkled his brows. He walked around the bell, checking all the sides. He paced back and forth in front of the bell, thinking.

"Think! Think!" He told himself as he tapped his finger on his forehead.

温皱着眉头，绕着大钟细细打量。他在大钟前来回踱步，思索着。

“仔细想想！好好想想！”他边说边用手指敲自己的额头。

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!"

突然，温想到了一个主意!

“我可以把大钟砸成碎片，” 温说，“这样我搬运这些碎片就容易多了。”

温很骄傲自己能想出这样的妙计。

“呵呵，我是个天才!”他笑道。

He found a big rock under a nearby tree. He slammed the rock against the bell.

BOAG! BONG!

The loud sound hurt Wen's ears. He covered them with both hands and stumbled backward.

"Ouch!" 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.

他在旁边树下找到一块大石头，拿起来猛砸大钟。

当!当!

巨大的钟声刺痛了温的耳朵，他双手捂住耳朵，踉跄着往后退。

“哎哟!” 他大叫道，“我的耳朵! 我的耳朵!”

温知道，如果再用石头砸钟，钟声还是会弄痛耳朵的。

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."

突然，温又有了主意!

他从衣服下摆扯下一小块布，卷成一团，塞进右耳。然后又扯下一块，卷成团塞进左耳。

“呵呵，我真是个天才！现在，我什么也听不见了。”

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 to the Fan house. They found Wen smashing the rock against the bell.

温又拿起那块石头，一遍一遍地猛砸大钟。

当!当!

叮当! 叮当!

震耳欲聋的钟声吵醒了熟睡的村民，他们纷纷跑到范家，发现温正在用石头砸大钟。

The villagers were angry. One of them pulled out the fabric from Wen's ears.

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 villagers all started to laugh.

Wen wasn't just a thief - he was a fool, too!

村民们很生气，其中一人扯掉了温耳朵里塞着的布条。

温望着周围的人群，一脸困惑。

“嗯？你们是怎么听到钟声的？”他问村民们，”我塞住了耳朵，没听到任何声音啊!”

村民们都忍不住大笑起来。

原来温不但是个贼，还是个傻瓜!

The idiom "Cover your ears while stealing bells" means fooling yourself into believing something silly.

成语“掩耳盗铃”比喻自己欺骗自己，明明掩盖不住的事情偏要想法子掩盖。

词汇敲黑板

brick /brɪk/ n.砖头

entrance /ˈentrəns; ɪnˈtræns/ n.入口

entry /'ɛntri/ n.进入（权）

brass /bræs/ n. 黄铜

rub /rʌb/ v. 摩擦

palm /pɑːm/ n. 手掌，手心

greedily /ˈɡriːdɪli/ adv. 贪婪地

creep /kriːp/ v. 匍匐，缓慢（或悄情）地行

smack /smæk/ v. 咂（嘴）

sneakily /ˈsniːkɪli/ adv. 偷偷摸摸地，鬼鬼崇崇地

budge /bʌdʒ/ v. 微微移动，挪动

crinkle /ˈkrɪŋkl/ v. 起皱， 成波状

brow /braʊ/ n. 眉毛

tap /tæp/ v.（常指连续）轻叩，轻敲

smash /smæʃ/ v. 打破，打碎

stumble /ˈstʌmbl/ v. 绊倒，跌跌撞撞地走

bang /bæŋ/ v. 猛击，猛撞

rip off 撕掉

fabric /ˈfæbrɪk/ n. 布料

roll /roʊl/ v. 滚

plug /plʌɡ/ v. 把…塞住

资料来源： tales of China 《中国好故事》，华东师范大学出版社。

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