Reading report sheet :

Name&groupe : moussaoui baghdad mohammed Groupe 07

The material (specify the type) : short story

Author : anton Chekhov

Publication: 17 /December/1888

Impression about the material:

"The Bet" is an 1889 short story by Anton Chekhov about a banker and a young lawyer who make a bet with
each other following a conversation about whether the death penalty is better or worse than life in prison. The
banker wagers that the lawyer cannot remain in solitary confinement voluntarily for a period of fifteen years.

Summary:

Fifteen years ago, a party was thrown at a banker's home, where many intellectuals such a journalists and
lawyers attended. During that party, the group in attendance had many lively discussions, ultimately turning to
the topic of capital punishment.

As the group argued, the two sides of the debate coalesced into two representatives: the banker, who is for
capital punishment and believes that it is more merciful, and a lawyer, who believes that life imprisonment is
the better option, due to its preservation of life. The lawyer believes that any life is better than none, and that
life cannot be taken away by the government, since life cannot be given back if the government realizes that it
made a mistake.

The banker and the lawyer decide to enter into a bet, with the banker wagering that the lawyer could not
withstand 5 years of imprisonment. The lawyer, young and idealistic, decides to up the ante and makes the bet
longer: 15 years. If he could last to the end of his sentence, the lawyer would receive two million rubles for
wining the bet.

The banker cannot fathom his good fortune, and even offers the young lawyer a way out, saying that he is
being hasty and foolish. Nevertheless, the lawyer decides to stick to his word and the bet is carried out.

For fifteen years, the lawyer lives on the banker's property, in a small lodge, and has no human contact. He can
have any item that he desires. At first, the lawyer does not comfort himself with any liquor or tobacco,
confining himself to playing the piano. But as the years progress, he gives in and spends much of his time drunk
or asleep.

Later, the main focus of his time becomes books, as he searches for adventures and comforts that he cannot
possess physically. He takes great advantage of the banker's ability to provide any book, and asks that the
banker test the result of his reading by firing two shots in the garden if his translations of several languages is
indeed flawless. The banker acquiesces and confirms the lawyer's suspicion that he has mastered languages.

As the years go by, the lawyer reads virtually every genre under the sun. He makes his way from the lighter
reading of the early years, to the dense text of the Gospels and Shakespeare. The banker, by this time, has gone
broke due to his own recklessness and gambling. He begins to worry that the lawyer's bet with him will ruin
him financially.

The banker begins to hope against all hope that the lawyer will break his vow and lose the bet. He doesn't even
feel remorse at his evil thoughts, excusing them on the basis that they are in his own best interest. In fact, the
banker even manages to convince himself that the lawyer is getting the better end of the deal, since he will still
be relatively young at 40, and, with the 2 million rubles, relatively rich.

With this in mind, the banker goes to investigate how the lawyer is doing. He finds that his prisoner is asleep at
his desk, looking much older and careworn than he ever imagined him to be. After observing him for a few
seconds, the banker notices a letter on the table.

In it, the lawyer proclaims his intention to renounce earthly goods in favor of the spiritual blessings. The
prisoner has become entirely embittered during his captivity. He has developed an intense hatred for other
humans and believes that there is nothing that he or they can do to ever reconcile this chasm. To prove his
seriousness, the lawyer decides to leave his prison five hours before the appointed time, and renounces his
claim to the two million, thereby freeing the banker from his debt and from financial ruin.

The banker cries and kisses the prisoner with relief. The next day, watchmen alert the banker of the lawyer's
escape, and the banker is unsurprised. He walks over, takes the letter from the lodge, and locks it in a fireproof
safe…

Personal opinion :