上外版大学英语写作精选第六册(7)

    The Zeritskys were businessmen， first and last. Anyone who had the fee could put himself away for whatever period of time he wished， and no questions asked， The ironclad rule was that full payment had to be made in advance.

    Criminals were the first to apply for quick-freezing， and formed the mainstay of the Zeritskys' business through the years. What more easy than to rob， hide the loot （except for that all-important advance payment）， present yourself to the Zeritskys and remain in their admirable chambers for five or ten years， emerge to find the hue and cry long since died down and the crime forgotten， recover your haul and live out your life in luxury？

    Due to the shady character of most of their patrons， the Zeritskys kept all records by a system of numbers. Name never appeared on the books， and anonymity was guaranteed.

    Law enforcement agents， looking for fugitives from justice， found no way to break down this system， nor any law which they could interpret as making it illegal to quick-freeze. Perhaps the truth is that they did not search too diligently for a law that could be made to apply. As long as the Zeritskys kept things quiet and did not advertise or attract public attention， they could safely continue their bizarre business.

    City officials of Los Angeles， and particularly members of the police force， enjoyed a period of unparalleled prosperity. Lawyers and other experts who thought they were on the track of legal means by which to liquidate the Zeritsky empire found themselves suddenly able to buy a ranch or a yacht or both， and retire forever from the arduous task of earning a living.

    Even with a goodly part of the population of Los Angeles as permanent pensioners， the Zeritsky fortune grew to incredible proportions. By the time the Zeritsky Brothers died and left the business to their sons， it was a gold mine， and an inexhaustible one at that.

    Next to criminals， the majority of people who applied for quick-freezing seem to have been husbands or wives caught in insupportable marital situations. Their experiences were subsequently written up in the confession magazines. It was usually the husband who fled to Los Angeles and incarcerated himself for an appropriate number of years， at the end of which time his unamiable spouse would have died or made other arrangements. If we can believe the magazines， this scheme worked out very well in most cases.

    The sins of the fathers may be visited on the sons， but how often we see repeated the old familiar pattern of the sons destroying the lifework of the fathers！ The Zeritsky Brothers were fanatically meticulous. They supervised every detail of their operations， and kept their records with an elaborate system of checks and doublechecks. They were shrewd enough to realize that complete dependability was essential to their business. A satisfied Zeritsky client was a silent client. One dissatisfied client would be enough to blow the business apart.

    The sons， in their greed， over-expanded to the point where they could not， even among the four of them， personally supervise each and every detail. A fatal mistake was bound to occur sooner or later. When it did， the victim broadcast his grievance to the world.

    The story appeared in a national magazine， every copy of which was sold an hour after it appeared on the stands. Under the title They Put the Freeze on Me！ John A. Monahan told his tragic tale. At the age of 37， he had fallen desperately in love with a girl of 16. She was immature and frivolous and wanted to "play around" a little more before she settled down.

    "She told me，" he wrote， "to come back in five years， and that stared me thinking. In five year I'd be 42， and what would a girl of 21 want with a man twice as old as her？"