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 intimateand familiar.
The Russian dishes mentioned in "A Tedious Story" have no exactequivalents. Sossoulki are a kind of little dumplings eaten insoup; schi is a soup made of sour cabbage; and kasha is a kind ofporridge.
The words of the song which the students sing in "The Fit" come fromPoushkin.
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 tocorner of his study, recalling to his mind the party he gave in theautumn fifteen years ago. There were many clever people at the partyand much interesting conversation. They talked among other things ofcapital punishment. The guests, among them not a few scholars andjournalists, for the most part disapproved of capital punishment. Theyfound it obsolete as a means of punishment, unfitted to a ChristianState and immoral. Some of them thought that capital punishment shouldbe replaced universally by life-imprisonment.
"I don't agree with you," said the host. "I myself have experiencedneither capital punishment nor life-imprisonment, but if one mayjudge a priori, then in my opinion capital punishment is moremoral 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 ofyou incessantly, for years?"
"They're both equally immoral," remarked one of the guests, "becausetheir purpose is the same, to take away life. The State is not God. Ithas no right to take away that which it cannot give back, if it shouldso desire."
Among the company was a lawyer, a young man of about twenty-five. Onbeing asked his opinion, he said:
"Capital punishment and life-imprisonment are equally immoral; but ifI were offered the choice between them, I would certainly choose thesecond. It's better to live somehow than not to live at all."
There ensued a lively discussion. The banker who was then younger andmore nervous suddenly lost his temper, banged his fist on the table, andturning to the young lawyer, cried out:
"It's a lie. I bet you two millions you wouldn't stick in a cell evenfor five years."
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