Take the bell and be a thief

Take the bell and be a thief

To be a thief with a bell is to do a secret thing and let yourself out first.

It's a metaphor for doing something secret and telling it out first. [source] the fifth chapter of "the future of new China in the late Qing Dynasty literature collection notes": "if you don't have any assurance, but you are shouting and throwing wildly there every day, isn't it the common saying that" take the bell to be a thief " [example] if you are not sure, but you are shouting and throwing wildly there every day, isn't it the common saying that "～"? (the fifth chapter of "the future of new China"