ho a The Bet Anton Chekhov translated by Ronald Wilks 1 ‘was & dark autumn night and an elderly bunker wat pacing his study, reminiscing about 2 party he had given one aut een Yeats 380. ‘Many clever penple had come and there Rad been 2 most ineresting conversation, capital punishment [eing one of de ops they Bad cuted among ‘thers, The great majority of the guests who in ded many scholars and Journalists, had been ‘guns in chet view this form of punishment ‘est outmoded, immoral and unfit for Christian States. Some though that che death penalty shoul ‘be replaced exerywhere by fe impeisnmet. doa’ ape the banker had told his uss “ve never tasted capital punisheat or lie pes ‘onment mysl, But may ofr an a prion ad ‘ent, T think that capital punishanent is more ‘mora and humane han imprsonmen. Executions Kelly right sway, whereas le inpeitonment does {talowys Which Kind of execusoner is more hu ‘mane? One who takes just few minutes to kl you, or ane who drags the it out of you daring the coane of many yess?” “Both are equally mor,” remarked one of the gusts, “Both ave the same ‘ake Hie. The State iene God. Te hat no right take say hat ican’ give back, 50 chooses.” “Among the guess Was 2 young lawyer of bout ent, When his opinion was asked he ad, The’ death penaley and life imprisonment are Teepe pe te pc teary aed skint repose 960. Romanticism and Realism ‘qualy immoral, But I ad te choose between ‘execution or being locked away fli, Pd ope for the second, without any dob. Any sort of i's eter than none at al.” ‘A lively argument ad broken out then. The banker, who Was younger and more excitable in hose days, suddenly lot his temper, banged i fst fon the table and shouted atthe young lawyer, “Thats noe tre! [bet you ovo lie tha you would even as fe yeaa al on your ow.” “If you mean that serous” the lawyer re plied, then I bet you F could sa locked up for BF fen pear, noc ve” “Pilten? Done!” shouted the banker. “Gentle ‘men, Tstake evo milion on i!” accept You're staking milios, Pm staking yy Sedo” the lange i. ‘And so that preposterous, senscless bet was ‘made. The banke, 2 spoiled, fvolous man atthe time, who had move mons thas he could count, ‘was overjoyed athe bet. Over per he made fan fof the lawyer “Come to Your ses, young man, Defoe i to late” he aid. “Two milion i hike ‘en feed to me, bot you ik losing eee or four of the bes eas of your it. F say three o fur, be- ‘cause you wor’ last longe. And doo' you forget, oor man, that voluntary confnemeat is mich harder than compulsory inesterason. The thought that you could regain your freedom any minute ‘will poison your whole existence in prion. T feel sore fr you” "As the banker pace the room he now remem bere al hi.“What was the point of that bet” he woa dered. “What was the use of that lawyer losing teen yeas of his ie oe my throwing avay to ai loa! How could that prove thatthe death penalty is ay beer or wore than lie imprisonment? Dek inte’ noe! Stuf ane acrserse! On ty peti wan the whim of someone with too much money, on the yer’ c was ser greed ‘tle ter he remembered the event l= lng tar evening. They had decided dat the lawyer ‘mst sere his me under the sits surveillance in oe ofthe lodges inthe banker's garden, The conctons were for fiteen years be ws not to be Alloved to cos the threshold ose 3 Uvingso for ear human vice, to receive newspaper oF lets. He was allowed a musa! insument sod books wo fey and to wrt leer, dink wine ad smo. His only communication with the ouside ‘wort, hey silted, was to be through a smal, ‘pecaly built window and he wasn't allowed to seal one word. Books, mus, wine and so coe could have anything he needed and as much a he ‘hed, bat only va the window and by writing ile note. To endure hi confinement wae sity sl {ary he agreement covered every minite point of eta and compel the layer fo eve a tem of ‘exaciy fifteen year, from twelve o'clock on 1 ‘November 1870 unt rwelve o'lock on 14 No: vember 1885, The lest atempt to volte these ‘ondtions, even two mites before the time was ‘up, feed the Banke fom any obligation to pay the ‘wo milion During the fst year of his confinement the lawyer suffered dreadfully fom loneliness and boredom —a far ax one could judge fom his be ‘note. Day a aight the sound ofthe piano came from the lodge. He refused wine and tobacco win. he weote, simulates desire and desire was 3 Price's worst enemy. Moreover, nothing was ‘more depressing than daking good wine on ane’= ‘own, And tobuco polluted the iin his roo. For ‘the ist year the layer min had ight books ent Iin-gorels with complicated love plo, crime Be ‘oa, ntsc tales, comedies and s0 om, ln the second year music no longer came fom the lndge and the Iser wrote and asked for clo ‘es only. In the fifth year mae was heard again and the pesoner ake for wine. People watching fhm through the wndow sid tha throughout that year he di nothing bur eat, dik and bie on bis bed, ofen yawning and talking angry to hime He did't read any books, Some nights he would ‘it up writing and would keep ati fo ages. Ba eo tvard the morning hed tar everything he'd wie ten to shreds. Mee than once they heard him weening “nthe second half ofthe seh ea the prisoner devoted himself with great zeal to the stay of lan suze, philosophy and hoy. He appied himsel™ So eagery to these robjects tht dhe banker wat ‘hard put beeping Him supplied with books: in the count of four years early six hundred volumes haa been obtained a his equest. Dring tis eaze ‘the banker happenal to rece the Filling letter fiom hs cape Ear ee a of St egMy dear Goole Tov writing these lines in sx lao guages. Show them to the experts. Let them read them If they don't fod any intakes Ibe yu to hae a sbor fred i the garden-—that wl prove o me that ry ‘ffs hven’s been i ain Genie ofall enturies snd counties sped diferent a tgges, but he same ame burs in all fhm. I only you knew the heavenly bliss fel in my heart now that Tan under sand them! ‘The prisoncr’s wish was ceried our—the bunker onfred wo shot be red in the garden ‘fee the tenth year the leper st motonlest t hie tabl, reading nothing excep the Gospels. The bunker thought it sang tha someone who bad ‘mastered i handed aber’ tomes" in Our Years ‘ould spend aay a year reding one im, ely ‘comprehensible volume. Then the Gospels were fo lowed by the hitoey of relipon and theology Daring the lst to yea of is incarceration {he pelsone red a vast amount, quite india fate int he read natural sence, chen he asked fo Byron oc for Shakespeare In some of his notes be asked fr books on chemistry, meal textbooks, {novel and philosophical or theological tes tise wanting them al athe ime te. His rad ing prone in mind of someane swimming in the ses amid the wreckage oF hi sip, cage atch ing at one pece of wood afer the oer to sve bis ie As he recalled all this the od banker reflected, “tomorrow at teve he goes fe. And Ihave © py him two millon, aconding to the agreement Bhat pay up, Pm Shed 7 be absolutly ra inet” “Biften years ago he had ore millons shan he ‘ould count but ow he was aid 0 ak which tras the gree, his anet or his debts. Gambling Fle 2 nam te tae 2 eon: Langer teks Yo2 Romanticism and Realism fon the sock exchange and very riky specuation, ‘combined with an impalveness that he had never ‘managed t0 contol despite his advanced yer, had ‘raduly brought a detn nis fortunes and that fearless, seiconident, proud man of wealth was, row jst a small time fale, embling 2 every Fe or fil in his se “ha cursed bet™ the old man muttered, dutch his head. "Why couldn’ the man diet He's only just fory. Hell take my lst copeck, he mare, bel ny fe, el play the sock mar Ke, whe jelouly watch him ikea beggar Ev cy day Pi ear him sy the sme thing. “Tove all, ‘my happiness 1 you, please lt me bep you” No, Fe too much! My oaly salvation from bankruptcy fk grace sh ras del” ‘Thice o'clock sack. The banks cocked a caz ‘The whole howsehold was seping—the only sound vas the rusting ofthe oven tees out. Tying ‘otto make any noise he took fom 2 Sreproct fe {he key t te door tat had been unopened foe teen year, pot on his coat and went out Its ark and cold outside ad twas raining. Asharp, damp wind swept howiing around the fviole garden and gave the tres no peace. The banker rrsined his eyes bur coulda see the ground, the white stam, the lodge othe wees. A bhe approached the spot where the loge stood he ‘led ur vice t he watchman, There wat no te pb-he war obvouly sheltering Gom the wexther fnd sleeping somewhere inthe kichen, ot in the IFT have the courage to carryout my inte tion” thoughe she old man, “then dhe St fo be bspected wil be de watchman.” ‘By groping abovt in the dark he found the srk tepe and doce, and entered the all. Then he {Rehis way ino al pseage and ea match. No fone was there—only some sor of bed without 29 bedding and the dak shape ofa easton stove i the comer The seals on the door leading tthe sone’ room were intact ‘When the match went out the old man, tem ‘ing with excitement, peered through the small window cope pet: A Renin mney an ay acl apaIn the prisoner’ room a candle burned dinky ‘The prisoner wat iting at th abe. Only is bac, ‘he air on hi ead and hands were vile, On the table, on two armchairs and of the rug neat the ‘abl, ky open book Five minutes pased without dhe captive mov: Ing nce. ifeen years of confinement had tage him to st sll. The Banker tapped ea the window with one finger, bu the prisoner made no move ‘ment in response. The the banker erly Broke the season the doors and put the key inthe key hale. The rusty lock grated andthe door ereake. The banker was expecting an immediate shout of surpase and foostes, but three miastes went by an ie was ill absolutly quiet on the exher side He decided 1o go i, ‘Aman quite unlike any normal human being vas ting modonls tthe table, He was all kin and bons, with the long culy hai of 2 woman and a shaggy beard. His complesien wat yelow, With an earthy ing, his cheeks were hollow, his ack long andl narow andthe band with which he propped his bushy head was 50 thin and wasted ie ‘es painfil to look at His air was aeady touched ‘wth ay and 90 one looking at tha: gan, sere face would have bleed that he was only fg, He svar dlecping A sheet of paper with something ‘writen on i in smal eters Ixy on the table i Font of his bowed head "Poor ssn! thought the banker. “He's asleep and probably dreaming of thos milons! AIT have {0 6b i take hold ofthis sm-conpee, throw it on the bed, jase smother ie gendy with 2 pillow and ‘he mos meticulous examination won't find 9 mace of deat by violence. However, es st ad what be’ write The banker picked up the sheet of paper and read the folowing ‘Tomorrow at swelve o'ock I regain ty freedom and the right mix with people agin. But bere I leave thie rom nd ce the sun again cher's some things feel T should tll you, With a lear con Science and with God 3 my witness, Ide clare that I despise freedom, life, health snd everything that those books OF yours cal the besings ofthis word. have spent Bfcen years making a carefal stady of life on earth, True, 1 The Bet 963daven’e ce anything ofthe cat, of peo fle, but in your books I have drunk fa fran wine, sang songs, hunted deer and Wild boar in forests, loved women Beautfl creatures a5 ethereal 25 clouds ested by the sme of your great post have vsted me at night and whispered ‘manclous tales in mye, mabing my head ‘el In your books {have sealed the sum tite of Elbrus and Mont Ble’ and from them T have sen the run rising in the morning, flooding the sly, ocean and ‘mountain peaks with crimson god inthe ‘rering, Irom thre Thave sen the light ring fish above me and cleave the clouds T have seen green forests, eld, rivers, lakes, towns T have heard the sens ing and the muse of shepherd pipes. T have Touched the wings of beautfl demons Who few down 10 lk to me about God, In your Books T have hed mysel inco bottomless abysies, wrought miracles, ‘murdered, burt ties, preached ew ‘ons, conquered ene kingdoms "Your Books have given me wisdom. Fveryting that mans indefasgable? mind hs ceeted over the centuries Ss com prssed into 4 day lump insde my sal 1 Know tit Pm cevere han the lt of you. ‘An T despise you books. 1 despise al the biesings OF this word ll its widom. veything is worthless, wansient,* so sy and ar deceptive a 4 mirage You may be proud, wise and handsome, but death vill wipe you fom the fce of dhe ext, Together with the mice under the Noor thonds, And your posters" your history, 6 eho eh 5) aig ene 5, es! tro) and Mot se tage sooner pe 1 ea on) nk on Raman tog apa lel othe dso lg nde a i) ad Unig 10 rset en so) No perme 11 potty prt 31) Aft pn ne 964 Romanticism and Realism your immortal geniuses will sexe or be Fediced to ashes, long with the terest tobe. You've low all reason and are 00 fhe wrong path. You mistake Bes forthe ‘uu and dgines for beauy. You'd be peo apple and orange res madden Iy reared producing frogs and lizards instead of fut, or if ses smal of ety hors, rm amazed at you people who have exchanged heaven for earth 1 ast n't att understand You "To shove in acu practice how mach 1 despise what you ive by I renounce the ‘wo milion T ence deamed fy as hough ‘of parce, bt for which Ife only com temp now, To forty cight to them T shall eve this place five hours before the Sspulated ime and thos break the agree Ae reading tis the banker ad he piece of paper on the able, kised the range man’s ead End le the lodge weeping. At no ther time, not fen after cay lanes onthe stock exchange, had he ever fle ach contempt for himself snow: Back iis house he wet o bed, but he was Rep awake faa long time by excitement ad eas ‘Nett moraing some white faced watchmen «came running to inform him hat hey Bad seen the ‘man from the lodge climb through his window Inco te garden, make foe the gute and disappear "The baker went tothe lodge with his servants to make cern thatthe peisoner had in fct Bed. To put paid to any unnccesary disputes later one Picked op the shet with the renunciation from the {ble etuned to the house and locked i in his Freproot st eadere Reoponse Do you tink that {$15,000,000 fs worth sacrificing fteen “years of your life for? Why or why not?