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Story of Hilton Hotel – 希尔顿酒店的故事

June 25, 2016 by David & Nicole Leave a Comment

Story of Hilton Hotel - Chinese reading practiceThis is the story of how the first manager of Hilton Hotel was hired. Now I'm not sure if this is actually a true story, based on a true story, or totally made up, but I nonetheless found it to be quite a touching read with a moral. The moral of the story is that in this fast-paced busy world, an empathetic act of kindness can really go a long way. I personally really like stories with a moral at the end of it, so I will try to post more like this.

I would rate this at an intermediate level just because it uses some big words as well as idioms (a great opportunity to expand your vocab!). Having said that don't be intimidated as I'm going to breakdown some of the complex characters to help you better digest this article. Again, observe the sentence structure in Chinese and see if you're starting to get the hang of it.

If you have any difficulties, DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK in the comments below, I will try to respond to all of you (feel free to help others out as well). Happy reading!

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Key Words: 

疲惫(Pí Bèi) - Exhausted
神情(Shén Qíng) - Facial expression 
住宿(Zhù Sù) - Accommodation 
客满打烊(Kè Mǎn Dǎ Yáng) - These characters mean that the hotel is full and ready to close for the night, but actually nowadays people don't use this phrase that often. It is the traditional way to express this meaning. Nowadays people use 关门 instead of  打烊. 
结账(Jié Zhàng) - Paying the bill. This is a word that you have to learn if you would like to visit China one day. It is used frequently in restaurants when you are asking for the bill.
整洁(Zhěng Jié) - Neat 
通宵(Tōng Xiāo) - Stay up
旅途(Lǚ  Tú) - Trip

Chinese Text:

一天夜里,已经很晚了,一对年老的夫妻走进一家旅馆,他们想要一个房间。前台侍者回答说:“对不起,我们旅馆已经客满了,一间空房也没有剩下。”看着这对老人疲惫的神情,侍者不忍心深夜让这对老人出门另找住宿。而且在这样一个小城,恐怕其他的旅店也早已客满打烊了,这对疲惫不堪的老人岂不会在深夜流落街头?于是好心的侍者将这对老人引领到一个房间,说:“也许它不是最好的,但现在我只能做到这样了。”

老人见眼前其实是一间整洁又干净的屋子,就愉快地住了下来。第二天,当他们来到前台结账时,侍者却对他们说:“不用了,因为我只不过是把自己的屋子借给你们住了一晚。祝你们旅途愉快!”原来如此。侍者自己一晚没睡,他就在前台值了一个通宵的夜班。两位老人十分感动!老头儿说:“孩子,你是我见到过的最好的旅店经营人。你会得到报答的。”侍者笑了笑,说这算不了什么。

他送老人出了门,转身接着忙自己的事,把这件事情忘了个一干二净。没想到有一天,侍者接到了一封信函,打开看,里面有一张去纽约的单程机票并有简短附言,聘请他去做另一份工作。他乘飞机来到纽约,按信中所标明的路线来到一个地方,抬头一看,一座金碧辉煌的大酒店耸立在他的眼前。原来,几个月前的那个深夜,他接待的是一个有着亿万资产的富翁和他的妻子。富翁为这个侍者买下了一座大酒店,深信他会经营管理好这个大酒店。这就是全球赫赫有名的希尔顿饭店首任经理的传奇故事。

English Translation:

(Show...)
One night, it was really late, when an old couple walked into a hotel wanting to get a room. The receptionist answered: "sorry, our hotel is full, there is not a single empty room left." Looking at their exhausted faces, the receptionist (note that the literal translation = "front desk attendant") could not bear to allow this old couple to walk out and look for other accommodation. Moreover, in a small town like this, he was afraid that all the hotels had already closed and these two exhausted elders might end up sleeping on the street. Thus, the kind receptionist led the couple to a room and said: "This room may not be the best but this is all I can do."

The couple saw that this was actually a clean and tidy room, so they happily agreed to stay for the night. The next day, when they went to reception to check out, the receptionist said: "You do not need to pay because I just lent my room to you for one night. Hope you enjoy your trip!" So as it turned out, [the old couple discovered] that the receptionist did not sleep for the whole night, he just stayed up and worked at the reception. The two elders were very touched! The old man said: "Kid, you are the best hotel operator I have ever seen. You will be rewarded." The receptionist smiled and said it’s not a big deal.

He sent the elders out and turned around to continue doing his own things and totally forgot about this event. He never thought that one day, he would receive an invitation letter. He opened it, and inside there was a flight ticket to New York and a short note containing a job offer. He took the flight to New York and followed the directions given in the letter until he reached the destination. He raised his head and saw a splendid and magnificent hotel in front of his eyes. It turns out, a few months ago on that night, the people he served were actually billionaires. The billionaires bought this huge hotel for the receptionist and truly believed that he would manage this hotel well. This is the globally famous story of the first manager of Hilton Hotel.

 

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Filed Under: Intermediate Reading Practice Tagged With: Short Stories

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