RANGE: Anywhere between inexplicably expensive and temporarily exorbitant, the High Interest Wraith can be found on either the downturn or the upswing. Wherever a small deposit will hold or no serious offer is refused, he makes his mortgaged home. HABITS: He whispers in our ears with unnatural, will-melting charm: Ever think you could own a potentially lucrative and prestigious dew worm ranch? Well, for a limited time only, at a price you can afford! Sound good? That’s not all . . . If you buy now, we will throw in that second house you’ve always dreamed of and never thought you could afford. That’s right! A vacation home for you and the family, fabricated of longlasting pressboard, with plenty of air holes for the kids! Originally designed to house prize Labradors, these genuine jerry-built units are selling for just twice the original cost! For customers who act after reading this, we also have available a limited number of US Army surplus jeeps, originally advertised for fifty dollars— now they can be yours at a price so surprising you will be amazed! A flickering light in the night, he sings to us in a voice full of promise: If after you have taken advantage of these amazing offers you still have any money left wasting away in outmoded savings accounts, we are prepared to give you one year’s free investment management! If you are not completely satisfied with your investments after fifty-two weeks, you may file for bankruptcy in any recognized court. . . Just a minute there, friend . . . Money-loving High Interest Wraiths are about to foreclose on Oklahoma. Again. HISTORY: A European fairy of no fixed nationality, the High Interest Wraith’s interest has varied with the times but has always remained a couple of points above prime. His coffers have fattened in many a famine; plagues have contributed to the health of his accounts. He has been an architect of the American economy ever since arrival here. The High Interest Wraith has constructed Teapot Domes, pyramid schemes, tax shelters, investment houses, decorative financial columns, ground floors to get in on and collapsible financial structures, but never, never, a wage/price ceiling. Like, many fairy folk, he is a shape shifter, and in 1929, he changed himself from a bull into a bear, whereafter thousands of investors came crashing to the street from the sills and ledges of the castles in the air which he had made for them. Today, he sometimes disguises himself as a tv pitch man, a telephone solicitor, and an economic advisor with a smile as broad as a Laffer curve. SPOTTER’S TIPS: By these signs shall ye know the High Interest Wraith: depressed bond market, men in top hats selling apples, fewer housing starts, station wagons full of farmers heading for California, tightened money supply, big movie musicals featuring aquatic ballet, inventory financing difficulties, and boxcar-riding folksingers.
棲息地 銀行, 証券会社, 穀物
取引所などにいるが,一般的に
は人のくちぐるまのうえにのっ
かっていて, 甘い話を語ってき
かせてくれる。
習性 この妖精たちほど人間の
弱みを知りつくしているものは
いない。 あらゆる機会を狙っ
て, 人間の耳にささやきかける。
「いまがチャンスですよ。 1年
後には倍になりますよ」 と。
そして1年後には、 もうこの
妖精の姿かたちも消えてしまっ
ている。
歴史 誰もいいたがらないので
はっきりしない。 したがって最
初の被害者もわからない。
私立探偵の情報 世間のどこに
でもころがっているが, いちば
ん確実なのは自分の心のなかを
のぞいてみることだ。
SAVINGS
BANK
196
Habitat
Banks, securities firms, grain exchanges — but more commonly, perched atop someone’s smooth-talking tongue, whispering sweet deals into willing ears.
Behavior
No sprite knows human weakness more thoroughly than this one. It watches for every opportunity to whisper in a person’s ear: “Now’s your chance. In a year it’ll be double.”
And a year later — the sprite has vanished without a trace.
History
Nobody wants to talk about it, so the origins remain unclear. Consequently, the identity of the first victim is also unknown.
Field Intelligence
It turns up everywhere in the world — but the most reliable place to look is inside your own heart.
