Stealing a Bell with One's Ears Plugged

Stealing a Bell with One's Ears Plugged

During the last days of State of Fan (Chu Dynasty), there was a thief who came upon a bell. He wanted to steal it, but it was too heavy to carry away. So he decided to break the bell into pieces. When he hit the bell with the hammer, the bell rang loudly.

Not wanting others to hear the noises, he covered up his ears.

By logic, not wanting others to hear the noises is understandable.

To accomplish this by covering one's own ears, so one cannot hear himself, is absurd