Plugging¹ One's Ears While Stealing a Bell

In the ancient time, Fan's family was destroyed by others. So a man went to Fan's house and tried to steal something. He saw a big bell in the courtyard². The bell was so beautiful. He liked it very much, and he wanted to get it. Because the bell was too big and heavy, he could not move it. He thought there was only one way to solve the problem. He had to break the bell into pieces.

The thief found a big hammer, and he struck the bell. It produced very loud sound. The sound made the thief felt frightened. The thief thought it was too bad. Others would know that he was stealing the bell. He tried to stop the sound with his arms. But it was useless. He felt more and more frightened and covered his ears firmly hard with his hands. The sound became much lower³. He immediately got some odd⁴ bits of cloth, and had his ears plugged⁵ with the two cloth rolls. He thought that in this way nobody could hear the sound of the bell. So he struck the bell again. The sound was louder. Many people heard it, and the thief was caught as a result checked.

Sophia