Teaching is all about walking that fine line between guiding students around pitfalls while letting them make enough of their own mistakes that the lesson sticks. Try telling that to this fisherman, though. <!--more-->

<h3>被...称为... - [pinyin]bei4 ... cheng4 wei2...[/pinyin]</h3>
In the first sentence, we see the emergence of this pretty common word group. 被, as we know, means "by", as in "I was slapped in the face <strong>被</strong> a ginormous fish." 称, in this context, means "to be called" or "to be named", and 为 means "as". 

Taken together, this word group means "To be called ... by ...", except that in Chinese, the "by..." bit comes first. For example: 

我的想法<strong>被</strong>大家<strong>称为</strong>异想天开。
<em>"Everyone called my idea a wild fantasy." / "My idea was called a wild fantasy by everyone."</em>

她<strong>被</strong>老师<strong>称为</strong>得力助手的小女孩。
<em>"The teacher called her a capable assistant." / "She was called a capable assistant by the teacher."</em>

Make sense? Cool. On with the story.
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<div class="chinesetext">
<h3>Chinese text:</h3>
1) 有个渔人有着一流的捕鱼技术，被人们尊称为‘渔王’。然而‘渔王’年老的时候非常苦恼，因为他的三个儿子的渔技都很平庸。

2) 于是经常向人诉说心中的苦恼：“我真不明白，我捕鱼的技术这么好，我的儿子们为什么这么差？我从他们懂事起就传授捕鱼技术给他们，从最基本的东西教起，告诉他们怎样织网最容易捕捉到鱼，怎样划船最不会惊动鱼，怎样下网最容易请鱼入瓮。他们长大了，我又教他们怎样识潮汐，等等。。。凡是我长年辛辛苦苦总结出来的经验，我都毫无保留地传授给了他们，可他们的捕鱼技术竟然赶不上技术比我差的渔民的儿子！”

3) 一位路人听了他的诉说后，问：“你一直手把手地教他们吗？”

4) “是的，为了让他们得到一流的捕鱼技术，我教得很仔细很耐心。”

5) “他们一直跟随着你吗？”

6) “是的，为了让他们少走弯路，我一直让他们跟着我学。”

7) 路人说：“这样说来，你的错误就很明显了。你只传授给了他们技术，却没传授给他们教训。

<a href="https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/177933022648653564.html" target="_blank">See the source</a></div>
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1) There once was a fisherman who possessed consummate skill in catching fish, and everyone respectfully called him "Fisher King". However, as the "Fisher King" got on in years he was quite vexed, because his three sons were very mediocre at fishing.

2) So he often told others of the troubles in his heart: "I just don't understand, my fishing skills are this good, why are my sons' skills so poor? As soon as they were old enough to understand I began imparting these skills to them, starting from the most basic things, I told them how to weave next to catch fish with the most ease, how to row your boat so that the fish are not startled, how to lower the net so as to best entice fish in. As they grew older, I also taught them how to read the tides, and more... all this is the experience I attained through long years of hard work, I imparted this to them in full, but surprisingly their skills are no match for the sons of fisherman who are less skilled than I!" 

3) One traveller heard him speak and asked: "You've always handheld them through your teachings?"  

4) "That's right, so that they might achieve consummate skill, I taught them thoroughly and patiently." 

5) "And they've always followed you?"

6) "That's right, so that they would take fewer wrong turns, they've always studied at my side."

7) The traveller said: "From what you say, your mistake is very evident. You only imparted skills to them, but you didn't teach them any real lessons." 
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