掩耳盜鈴 (Yǎn'ěrdàolíng)

[Daimashin]

掩耳盜鈴 (Yǎn'ěrdàolíng) - To deceive yourself.

掩耳 (Yǎn'ěr) - Cover the ears, 盜鈴 (dàolíng) - Steal the bell.

Once upon a time there was an empty house with a giant bell at the front yard. One day, a man passed by and found the bell beautiful so he decided to steal it. He tried to carry it home but to no avail due to its size and weight so he came up with a plan; to knock it apart and reassemble it upon returning home. He took a giant hammer and knocked on the bell. The bell emitted a huge sound and the man's reflex was to cover his ears. Covering his ears, he didn't hear any sound so he thought that since he didn't hear anything by covering his ears, everyone else wouldn't hear it too. He covered his ears and smashed the bell three times causing it to break. While he was picking up the pieces, he wasn't aware that everyone was already standing behind him. He got the shock of his life when he turned his back and saw all those people witnessing his actions. That man was arrested for attempted burglary.

掩耳盜鈴 (Yǎn'ěrdàolíng) is used to describe someone that lies to himself.

Example:

"你以為你什麼都不理， 問題就會解決嗎？你這樣是「掩耳盜鈴」自己騙自己,你知道嗎?"