English Original
When Chen Xiang served as the magistrate of Pucheng County in Fujian during the Song Dynasty, he once had a group of suspects detained but could not identify the thief among them.
He gathered all the suspects and declared, "There is a temple bell that can detect the guilty party; it is extremely sensitive. Each of you must now touch the bell. If it rings, the one who touched it is the thief." Secretly, he ordered his men to bring the bell, coat it with black ink, and cover it with a cloth. He then instructed the suspects to reach under the cloth and touch the bell one by one.
Afterwards, he examined everyone's palms and interrogated the only person whose hand was not stained with ink. This suspect was indeed the thief. Fearing the bell would ring and expose him, he had not dared to touch it.
中文翻译
宋朝时期，陈襄在福建蒲城担任县令。有一次，县衙抓获了一群嫌疑犯，但无法确定其中谁是小偷。
陈襄将所有嫌疑犯召集起来，告诉他们：“某寺庙里有一口钟能验明盗贼，非常灵敏。待会儿你们每个人都必须摸一下这口钟。如果钟响了，那么摸钟的人就是小偷。”他暗中命令衙役将钟抬来，涂上墨汁，并用布帷遮盖起来，然后命令嫌疑犯依次将手伸进帷布去摸钟。
事后，陈襄检查了每个人的手掌，并审讯了唯一一个手掌没有被染黑——也就是没有摸钟的人。这个人果然就是小偷。因为他害怕钟真的会响，所以不敢伸手去碰钟。