THE BET AND OTHER STORIES BY ANTON TCHEKHOV TRANSLATED BY S. KOTELIANSKY AND J. M. MURRY JOHN W. LUCE & CO. BOSTON 1915 TRANSLATORS’ NOTE Stiepanovich and Stepanich are two forms of the same name, meaning--“son of Stephen.” The abbreviated form is the more intimate and familiar. The Russian dishes mentioned in “A Tedious Story” have no exact equivalents. _Sossoulki_ are a kind of little dumplings eaten in soup; _schi_ is a soup made of sour cabbage; and _kasha_ is a kind of porridge. The words of the song which the students sing in “The Fit” come from Poushkin. CONTENTS THE BET A TEDIOUS STORY THE FIT MISFORTUNE AFTER THE THEATRE THAT WRETCHED BOY ENEMIES A TRIFLING OCCURRENCE A GENTLEMAN FRIEND OVERWHELMING SENSATIONS EXPENSIVE LESSONS A LIVING CALENDAR OLD AGE THE BET I It was a dark autumn night. The old banker was pacing from corner to corner of his study, recalling to his mind the party he gave in the autumn fifteen years ago. There were many clever people at the party and much interesting conversation. They talked among other things of capital punishment. The guests, among them not a few scholars and journalists, for the most part disapproved of capital punishment. They found it obsolete as a means of punishment, unfitted to a Christian State and immoral. Some of them thought that capital punishment should be replaced universally by life-imprisonment. “I don’t agree with you,” said the host. “I myself have experienced neither capital punishment nor life-imprisonment, but if one may judge _a priori,_ then in my opinion capital punishment is more moral and more humane than imprisonment. Execution kills instantly, life-imprisonment kills by degrees. Who is the more humane executioner, one who kills you in a few seconds or one who draws the life out of you incessantly, for years?” “They’re both equally immoral,” remarked one of the guests, “because their purpose is the same, to take away life. The State is not God. It has no right to take away that which it cannot give back, if it should so desire.” Among the company was a lawyer, a young man of about twenty-five. On being asked his opinion, he said: “Capital punishment and life-imprisonment are equally immoral; but if I were offered the choice between them, I would certainly choose the second. It’s better to live somehow than not to live at all.” There ensued a lively discussion. The banker who was then younger and more nervous suddenly lost his temper, banged his fist on the table, and turning to the young lawyer, cried out: “It’s a lie. I bet you two millions you wouldn’t stick in a cell even for five years.” “If that’s serious,” replied the lawyer, “then I bet I’ll stay not five but fifteen.” “Fifteen! Done!” cried the banker. “Gentlemen, I stake two millions.” “Agreed. You stake two millions, I my freedom,” said the lawyer.