The Bet by Anton Chekhov. Short summary

5 seconds

A banker made a $2 million bet with a lawyer that he would spend 15 years alone. After 15 years, the banker went bankrupt and decided to kill the lawyer to avoid paying back the debt. But the man disowned his winnings.

1 minute

The old banker recalls an event that happened 15 years ago. At a dinner party an argument arose about what was more humane — execution or life imprisonment. The banker insisted that execution, while the young lawyer argued that imprisonment.

They made a bet that if the young man could sit in solitary confinement for 15 years, the banker would give him two million. The young man was locked up in one of the wings of the banker’s estate.

It was time to settle the bet. The banker, who has lost a lot of money over 15 years, realizes that if he complies with the terms of the bet, he will become bankrupt.

He decides to kill the lawyer. Sneaking into the outhouse, the banker catches the man asleep, and next to him is a note in which he gives up his money, for he has despised all material things.

The banker kisses the sleeping man and leaves crying. In the morning the watchmen tell him that the lawyer is gone.