欲蓋彌彰

「欲」是希望的意思；「蓋」是掩飾的意思；「彌」是更加的意思；「彰」是明顯的意思。「欲蓋彌彰」就是一個人做錯了事，越想掩飾，結果過錯越明顯。

春秋時代﹝西元前七二二年至四八一年﹞，邾國有一個人，名字叫黑肱，為國家做事，他偷偷地把邾國一塊土地送給魯國，希望魯國收留他。他以為自己做這件事沒人知道，就悄悄地搬到魯國去了，沒想到魯國卻把這件事清清楚楚地記錄下來。

後來，邾國人發覺黑肱搬走了，紛紛打聽，才知道黑肱做了對不起國家的事。黑肱本來想不讓別人知道的事，沒想到很多人都知道了。

The More One Tries to Hide a Mistake, The More It Is Exposed

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there lived a man named Hei Gung, Who worked for the government of the kingdom of Ju. Hei Gung once secretly gave a piece of Ju's territory to the kingdom of Lu, in the hopes that Lu would take him in. 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.

Later, when the people of Ju realized that Hei Gung had moved, they began to ask questions, and only then did they learn of the great dishonor he had brought to his country. Hei Gung never imagined that so many people would find out about this thing which he didn't want anyone to know.

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