欲盖弥彰

The more one tries to cover up, the better-known it will become.

欲盖弥彰

During the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时期,770-476 BC), there lived a man named Hei Gung, who worked for the government of the kingdom of Ju. Hei Gung once secretly gave apiece of Ju's territory to the kingdom of Lu, in the hopes that Lu would take him in.

春秋时代，邾国有一个人，名字叫黑肱，为国家做事，他偷偷地把邾国一块土地送给鲁国，希望鲁国收留他。

Thinking that no one knew what he had done, he very quietly moved to Lu, never dreaming that Lu would record this incident in great detail.

他以为自己做这件事没人知道，就悄悄地搬到鲁国去了，没想到鲁国却把这件事清清楚楚地记录下来。

Later, when the people of Ju realized that Hei Gung had moved, they began to ask about that, and only then they learnt of the great dishonor he had brought to his country.

后来，邾国人发觉黑肱搬走了，纷纷打听，才知道黑肱做了对不起国家的事。

Hei Gung never imagined that so many people would find out about this thing which he didn't want anyone to know.

黑肱本来想不让别人知道的事，没想到很多人都知道了。

Today, this idiom is often used in situations in which a person tries to cover up a thing which he has done, but in doing so only makes his wrongdoing more obvious.

今天我们用这个成语来表示越是想掩盖的错误最终却越是会明显的显现出来。

【文化链接】

英文中若要表达“欲盖弥彰”的意思，可以用短语“The more one tries to cover up, the better-known it will become.”。

意思也就是“越是想掩盖的事实，越是会显露无遗