Idiom or Proverb Per Day, 叶公好龙

I decided to teach you Chinese learners an idiom or proverb per day and welcome you to correct my expression.

The idiom of today is 叶公好龙. Literally it means "a man called Ye Gong( Gong is an address of a respectable or powerful man) loves dragons."

But behind the idiom there is an interesting story. Ye Gong was a man who loved dragons so much that he has became addicted. He used many dragon patterns in his collections and household articles. A true dragon living in sky gets this piece of news heard about Ye Gong's love for dragons and it decided to turn up before visit him and thank him. However, ironically, Ye Gong was totally frightened by the true dragon and hides himself off it from here to there ("off it from here to there" makes no sense in English. Did you mean he went to different places in an effort to stay hidden?).

This idiom is used to imply someone professes love of what he fears actually.

E.g. 有些人成天喊空虚寂寞冷，一旦拍拖了又抱怨矫情腻味烦，实在是叶公好龙。

I love the idea of this series! I will read as many of them as I can, and take notes. Some of my students taught me the story behind 马马虎虎 once, and since then I've loved hearing the origins of Chinese idiomatic expressions.