The Bet
IT WAS a dark autumn night. The old banker was walking up and down his
study and remembering how, fifteen years before, he had given a party
one autumn evening. There had been many clever men there, and there had
been interesting conversations. Among other things they had talked of
capital punishment. The majority of the guests, among whom were many
journalists and intellectual men, disapproved of the death penalty.
They considered that form of punishment out of date, immoral, and
unsuitable for Christian States. In the opinion of some of them the
death penalty ought to be replaced everywhere by imprisonment for life.
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"I don't agree with you," said their host the banker. "I have
not tried either the death penalty or imprisonment for life, but if one
may judge _a priori_, the death penalty is more moral and more humane
than imprisonment for life. Capital punishment kills a man at once, but
lifelong imprisonment kills him slowly. Which executioner is the more
humane, he who kills you in a few minutes or he who drags the life out
of you in the course of many years?"
"Both are equally immoral," observed one of the guests, "for they both
have the same object -- to take away life. The State is not God. It has
not the right to take away what it cannot restore when it wants to."
Among the guests was a young lawyer, a young man of five-and-twenty. When he was asked his opinion, he said:
"The death sentence and the life sentence are equally immoral, but if I
had to choose between the death penalty and imprisonment for life, I
would certainly choose the second. To live anyhow is better than not at
all."
A lively discussion arose. The banker, who was younger and more nervous
in those days, was suddenly carried away by excitement; he struck the
table with his fist and shouted at the young man:
"It's not true! I'll bet you two millions you wouldn't stay in solitary confinement for five years."
"If you mean that in earnest," said the young man, "I'll take the bet, but I would stay not five but fifteen years."
"Fifteen? Done!" cried the banker. "Gentlemen, I stake two millions!"
"Agreed! You stake your millions and I stake my freedom!" said the young man.
And this wild, senseless bet was carried out! The banker, spoilt and
frivolous, with millions beyond his reckoning, was delighted at the
bet. At supper he made fun of the young man, and said:
"Think better of it, young man, while there is still time. To me two
millions are a trifle, but you are losing three or four of the best
years of your life. I say three or four, because you won't stay longer.
Don't forget either, you unhappy man, that voluntary confinement is a
great deal harder to bear than compulsory. The thought that you have
the right to step out in liberty at any moment will poison your whole
existence in prison. I am sorry for you."
And now the banker, walking to and fro, remembered all this, and asked
himself: "What was the object of that bet? What is the good of that
man's losing fifteen years of his life and my throwing away two
millions? Can it prove that the death penalty is better or worse than
imprisonment for life? No, no. It was all nonsensical and meaningless.
On my part it was the caprice of a pampered man, and on his part simple
greed for money. . . ."
Then he remembered what followed that evening. It was decided that the
young man should spend the years of his captivity under the strictest
supervision in one of the lodges in the banker's garden. It was agreed
that for fifteen years he should not be free to cross the threshold of
the lodge, to see human beings, to hear the human voice, or to receive
letters and newspapers. He was allowed to have a musical instrument and
books, and was allowed to write letters, to drink wine, and to smoke.
By the terms of the agreement, the only relations he could have with
the outer world were by a little window made purposely for that object.
He might have anything he wanted -- books, music, wine, and so on -- in
any quantity he desired by writing an order, but could only receive
them through the window. The agreement provided for every detail and
every trifle that would make his imprisonment strictly solitary, and
bound the young man to stay there _exactly_ fifteen years, beginning
from twelve o'clock of November 14, 1870, and ending at twelve o'clock
of November 14, 1885. The slightest attempt on his part to break the
conditions, if only two minutes before the end, released the banker
from the obligation to pay him two millions.
For the first year of his confinement, as far as one could judge from
his brief notes, the prisoner suffered severely from loneliness and
depression. The sounds of the piano could be heard continually day and
night from his lodge. He refused wine and tobacco. Wine, he wrote,
excites the desires, and desires are the worst foes of the prisoner;
and besides, nothing could be more dreary than drinking good wine and
seeing no one. And tobacco spoilt the air of his room. In the first
year the books he sent for were principally of a light character;
novels with a complicated love plot, sensational and fantastic stories,
and so on.
In the second year the piano was silent in the lodge, and the prisoner
asked only for the classics. In the fifth year music was audible again,
and the prisoner asked for wine. Those who watched him through the
window said that all that year he spent doing nothing but eating and
drinking and lying on his bed, frequently yawning and angrily talking
to himself. He did not read books. Sometimes at night he would sit down
to write; he would spend hours writing, and in the morning tear up all
that he had written. More than once he could be heard crying.
In the second half of the sixth year the prisoner began zealously
studying languages, philosophy, and history. He threw himself eagerly
into these studies -- so much so that the banker had enough to do to
get him the books he ordered. In the course of four years some six
hundred volumes were procured at his request. It was during this period
that the banker received the following letter from his prisoner:
"My dear Jailer, I write you these lines in six languages. Show them to
people who know the languages. Let them read them. If they find not one
mistake I implore you to fire a shot in the garden. That shot will show
me that my efforts have not been thrown away. The geniuses of all ages
and of all lands speak different languages, but the same flame burns in
them all. Oh, if you only knew what unearthly happiness my soul feels
now from being able to understand them!" The prisoner's desire was
fulfilled. The banker ordered two shots to be fired in the garden.
Then after the tenth year, the prisoner sat immovably at the table and
read nothing but the Gospel. It seemed strange to the banker that a man
who in four years had mastered six hundred learned volumes should waste
nearly a year over one thin book easy of comprehension. Theology and
histories of religion followed the Gospels.
In the last two years of his confinement the prisoner read an immense
quantity of books quite indiscriminately. At one time he was busy with
the natural sciences, then he would ask for Byron or Shakespeare. There
were notes in which he demanded at the same time books on chemistry,
and a manual of medicine, and a novel, and some treatise on philosophy
or theology. His reading suggested a man swimming in the sea among the
wreckage of his ship, and trying to save his life by greedily clutching
first at one spar and then at another.
II
The old banker remembered all this, and thought:
"To-morrow at twelve o'clock he will regain his freedom. By our
agreement I ought to pay him two millions. If I do pay him, it is all
over with me: I shall be utterly ruined."
Fifteen years before, his millions had been beyond his reckoning; now
he was afraid to ask himself which were greater, his debts or his
assets. Desperate gambling on the Stock Exchange, wild speculation and
the excitability whic h he could not get over even in advancing years,
had by degrees led to the decline of his fortune and the proud,
fearless, self-confident millionaire had become a banker of middling
rank, trembling at every rise and fall in his investments. "Cursed
bet!" muttered the old man, clutching his head in despair "Why didn't
the man die? He is only forty now. He will take my last penny from me,
he will marry, will enjoy life, will gamble on the Exchange; while I
shall look at him with envy like a beggar, and hear from him every day
the same sentence: 'I am indebted to you for the happiness of my life,
let me help you!' No, it is too much! The one means of being saved from
bankruptcy and disgrace is the death of that man!"
It struck three o'clock, the banker listened; everyone was asleep in
the house and nothing could be heard outside but the rustling of the
chilled trees. Trying to make no noise, he took from a fireproof safe
the key of the door which had not been opened for fifteen years, put on
his overcoat, and went out of the house.
It was dark and cold in the garden. Rain was falling. A damp cutting
wind was racing about the garden, howling and giving the trees no rest.
The banker strained his eyes, but could see neither the earth nor the
white statues, nor the lodge, nor the trees. Going to the spot where
the lodge stood, he twice called the watchman. No answer followed.
Evidently the watchman had sought shelter from the weather, and was now
asleep somewhere either in the kitchen or in the greenhouse.
"If I had the pluck to carry out my intention," thought the old man, "Suspicion would fall first upon the watchman."
He felt in the darkness for the steps and the door, and went into the
entry of the lodge. Then he groped his way into a little passage and
lighted a match. There was not a soul there. There was a bedstead with
no bedding on it, and in the corner there was a dark cast-iron stove.
The seals on the door leading to the prisoner's rooms were intact.
When the match went out the old man, trembling with emotion, peeped
through the little window. A candle was burning dimly in the prisoner's
room. He was sitting at the table. Nothing could be seen but his back,
the hair on his head, and his hands. Open books were lying on the
table, on the two easy-chairs, and on the carpet near the table.
Five minutes passed and the prisoner did not once stir. Fifteen years'
imprisonment had taught him to sit still. The banker tapped at the
window with his finger, and the prisoner made no movement whatever in
response. Then the banker cautiously broke the seals off the door and
put the key in the keyhole. The rusty lock gave a grating sound and the
door creaked. The banker expected to hear at once footsteps and a cry
of astonishment, but three minutes passed and it was as quiet as ever
in the room. He made up his mind to go in.
At the table a man unlike ordinary people was sitting motionless. He
was a skeleton with the skin drawn tight over his bones, with long
curls like a woman's and a shaggy beard. His face was yellow with an
earthy tint in it, his cheeks were hollow, his back long and narrow,
and the hand on which his shaggy head was propped was so thin and
delicate that it was dreadful to look at it. His hair was already
streaked with silver, and seeing his emaciated, aged-looking face, no
one would have believed that he was only forty. He was asleep. . . . In
front of his bowed head there lay on the table a sheet of paper on
which there was something written in fine handwriting.
"Poor creature!" thought the banker, "he is asleep and most likely
dreaming of the millions. And I have only to take this half-dead man,
throw him on the bed, stifle him a little with the pillow, and the most
conscientious expert would find no sign of a violent death. But let us
first read what he has written here. . . ."
The banker took the page from the table and read as follows:
"To-morrow at twelve o'clock I regain my freedom and the right to
associate with other men, but before I leave this room and see the
sunshine, I think it necessary to say a few words to you. With a clear
conscience I tell you, as before God, who beholds me, that I despise
freedom and life and health, and all that in your books is called the
good things of the world.
"For fifteen years I have been intently studying earthly life. It is
true I have not seen the earth nor men, but in your books I have drunk
fragrant wine, I have sung songs, I have hunted stags and wild boars in
the forests, have loved women. . . . Beauties as ethereal as clouds,
created by the magic of your poets and geniuses, have visited me at
night, and have whispered in my ears wonderful tales that have set my
brain in a whirl. In your books I have climbed to the peaks of Elburz
and Mont Blanc, and from there I have seen the sun rise and have
watched it at evening flood the sky, the ocean, and the mountain-tops
with gold and crimson. I have watched from there the lightning flashing
over my head and cleaving the storm-clouds. I have seen green forests,
fields, rivers, lakes, towns. I have heard the singing of the sirens,
and the strains of the shepherds' pipes; I have touched the wings of
comely devils who flew down to converse with me of God. . . . In your
books I have flung myself into the bottomless pit, performed miracles,
slain, burned towns, preached new religions, conquered whole kingdoms.
. . .
"Your books have given me wisdom. All that the unresting thought of man
has created in the ages is compressed into a small compass in my brain.
I know that I am wiser than all of you.
"And I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of this
world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a
mirage. You may be proud, wise, and fine, but death will wipe you off
the face of the earth as though you were no more than mice burrowing
under the floor, and your posterity, your history, your immortal
geniuses will burn or freeze together with the earthly globe.
"You have lost your reason and taken the wrong path. You have taken
lies for truth, and hideousness for beauty. You would marvel if, owing
to strange events of some sorts, frogs and lizards suddenly grew on
apple and orange trees instead of fruit, or if roses began to smell
like a sweating horse; so I marvel at you who exchange heaven for
earth. I don't want to understand you.
"To prove to you in action how I despise all that you live by, I
renounce the two millions of which I once dreamed as of paradise and
which now I despise. To deprive myself of the right to the money I
shall go out from here five hours before the time fixed, and so break
the compact. . . ."
When the banker had read this he laid the page on the table, kissed the
strange man on the head, and went out of the lodge, weeping. At no
other time, even when he had lost heavily on the Stock Exchange, had he
felt so great a contempt for himself. When he got home he lay on his
bed, but his tears and emotion kept him for hours from sleeping.
Next morning the watchmen ran in with pale faces, and told him they had
seen the man who lived in the lodge climb out of the window into the
garden, go to the gate, and disappear. The banker went at once with the
servants to the lodge and made sure of the flight of his prisoner. To
avoid arousing unnecessary talk, he took from the table the writing in
which the millions were renounced, and when he got home locked it up in
the fireproof safe.
by Anton Chekhov
- .: Prière :.
- Accueil- Croixsens.net
- Bible en ligne
- Accueil - Prière
- Questions et réponses sur la prière
- .: Articles :.
- .: Introduction à la prière :.
- Hommes de Dieu qui se mettent à genoux pour prier
- Voici plusieurs exemples où Dieu a exercé son influence les hommes
- Doit-on prier les yeux fermés ?
- À QUOI ÇA SERT DE PRIER ?
- Comment avoir une grande foi dans l’exaucement de nos sujets de prière ?
- Le double rôle de la sentinelle
- La bouche parfumée par nos prières
- Cadeau royal
- Comment diriger une réunion de prière (Joël Spinks)
- Pas le temps de ne pas prier !
- Définition de la prière
- Citations sur la prière
- Étymologie de prière
- Importance de la prière
- Principes concernant la prière (Rosalind Goforth)
- Les autels qui nous connectent au monde des esprits
- L'autel est un endroit où se produisent des transactions spirituelles
- Deux façons de prier (Pierre-Antoine Eldin)
- La clé qui va révolutionner votre vie de prière ! (Michael Lebeau)
- .: Préparation à la prière :.
- Intensité de la prière proportionnelle au défi rencontré
- Le travail de la prière
- Puissance décuplée par la prière de groupe dans l'unité
- La contemplation
- Fais silence devant Dieu (Sébastien Théret)
- Préparation pour la prière
- L'entraînement à la prière
- Quand tu pries, entre dans ta chambre, ferme ta porte
- Humilité avant de priere (Lou Sutera)
- Conseils sur la prière (George Muller)
- Comment disposer Dieu à exaucer nos prières
- Quelle formulation doit-on employer pour avoir des prières efficaces ?
- Comment prier
- Une manière efficace de prier sur les semences
- Prière pour expérimenter la guérison !
- Comment Jésus nous ordonne-t-il de prier ?
- Comment prier (Sundar Singh)
- Invoquer, pas juste évoquer
- Comment prier (Derek Prince)
- Prier selon la volonté de Dieu
- Prier selon la volonté de Dieu (John MacArthur)
- L'insistance est une des clés de l'exaucement de nos prières
- Prier sans cesse, est-ce prier sans arrêt ?
- Pour ceux qui se sentent condamnés de ne pas prier suffisamment
- La prière de la maturité spirituelle (Pierre-Antoine Eldin)
- Communication avec Dieu
- Notre Père qui est aux cieux
- .: Temps de prière :.
- Nuit de gloire
- Chaque matin
- L'heure de prière matinale
- .: Illustrations sur la prière :.
- Mobilisation angélique pour épauler la prière
- La valeur de nos prières
- La pièce inutilisée
- La prière en ligne directe
- Conseil de téléphoniste
- Sais-tu à qui tu t'adresses ?
- Que demander dans nos prières (John MacArthur)
- Construire sa journée par la prière
- Trois raisons de veiller et prier
- .: Réponses aux prières :.
- Dieu est sensible aux larmes de ses enfants qui crient à lui avec foi
- Psaumes 85 Eternel, fais-nous voir ta bonté et accorde-nous ton salut!
- 17:14-21 Quel est ce type de démon qui ne sort que par la prière ?
- Demandez des bonnes choses au bon Père, c'est une bonne garantie de les recevoir !
- Dieu entend la prière même des gens qui ne sont pas spirituels
- Travail nécessaire pour profiter des fruits - On doit semer avant de pouvoir récolter
- Un coffre-fort qui s'ouvre sans clé et sans intervention humaine !
- La première prière de Paul (Charles Spurgeon)
- Encouragement pour les personnes qui reçoivent des remarques négatives sur leur façon de prier
- Tout ce que vous demanderez en mon nom, je le ferai
- Ne crains point, ta prière a été exaucée (Jean-Claude
Kponsou)
- L'efficacité de la prière fervente
- La prière exaucée au-delà des attentes
- Attention à ce que tu dis à Jésus !
- La prière d'un commun accord sera accordée !
- Explorons le lieu secret, notre Père nous le rendra
- Prière pour la guérison ; la parole du royaume
- Ne crains point, ta prière a été exaucée (Kponsou)
- Réponse à la prière d'un coach
- Promesses à l'exaucement de la prière
- Conditions à l'exaucement de la prière (Finney)
- Réponse époustouflante à la prière d'une mère - la Bible boomerang !
- Réponse à la prière d'un enfant (Helen Roseveare)
- Réponse à la faible prière (Spurgeon)
- Les requêtes non formulées sont rarement répondues
- Réponse extraodinaire à la prière
- Réponse négative à la prière
- Réponse positive à la prière
- Prière exaucée même dans l'incrédulité
- Les prières répétitives, signe d'un manque de foi
- Daniel 9:23 Priez comme quelqu'un considéré de précieux !
- Quelle attitude adopter quand tarde la réponse à la prière ?
- Un délai dans la réponse à la prière est-il le signe que cela n'était pas la volonté de Dieu ?
- Réponse à un empereur
- Réponse à une veuve en détresse
- Réponse à une prière de secours (Spurgeon)
- Quand c'est au tour de Dieu à parler... (Chambers)
- .: Prière en public :.
- Défense de prier en public aux USA
- La pratique de la prière en France
- Prière d'un sénateur
- L'heure de prière matinale
- .: Prières à éviter :.
- si Jésus pensait et priait comme certains chrétiens
- La prière rituelle (John MacArthur)
- Ne priez pas pour le réveil ! (Tozer)
- La prière pour aider les morts
- La prière aux morts pour leur demander de l'aide
- Doit-on demander le secours des saints glorifiés ?
- La prière aux morts chez les Orthodoxes
- La prière aux saints
- La prière égocentrique
- La prière contre Dieu !
- La prière d'Agur contre l'abondance !
- Le marchandage avec Dieu
- .: Intercession :.
- Le messager intercesseur qui interprète la parole de Dieu en faveur des hommes
- L'intercession dans la pensée grecque biblique
- Pourquoi Jésus ordonne-t-il qu'on prie pour ceux qui nous persécutent ?
- Approche différente dans la prière entre un religieux et un enfant de Dieu
- L'intercession extraordinairement puissante du Saint-Esprit
- La compassion pour ceux qui sont en prison pousse à prier pour eux
- L'intercession vue au travers des mots grec employés
- La prière active l'intervention divine et la persévérance dans la prière accélère l'intervention angélique
- Tes prières d’intercession pour ta famille pourraient un jour te sauver la vie !
- Est-ce que notre intercession en faveur des gens malades est efficace
quand ceux-ci entretiennent leur maladie en parlant d'elle constamment ?
- Le ministère d'intercession des Sentinelles (Moussa Touré)
- N8 de prière
- Déclaration dans la prière (Jean Chrysostome)
- Intercéder pour le culte de l'église
- Le fonctionnement de la prière
- La puissance libératrice de l'intercession dans l'église
- Le secours de la prière d'autrui est une nécessité absolue pour obtenir la protection et le succès dans nos entreprises
- L'intercession élimine la critique
- Comment prier avec d'autres (Ralph Sutera)
- Prier par l'Esprit
- Intercession
- Intercession (Oswald J. Smith)
- Intercession (Oswald Chambers)
- Intercession (Ralph Shallis)
- Intercession (Jean Chrysostome)
- Intercession dans le mariage
- La prière pour les morts
- La prière pour nos pasteurs
- La prière comme arme spirituelle
- Amener l'enfant à Jésus dans la prière
- Comment avoir des prières adaptées pour des enfants ?
- Pétition pour le salut des autres
- Prière pour les perdus et l'élection
- Prière pour les perdus et l'élection (John MacArthur)
- Peut-on prier pour quelqu'un qui ne veut pas qu'on prie pour lui ?
- La persévérance dans la prière
- La cuirasse de la justice
- Prier avec assurance pour nos politiciens
- .: Impact de la prière :.
- Bénir à genoux fait porter du fruit
- La prière du juste agit avec une grande force
- 3 niveaux d'intensité dans le combat spirituel
- La bataille doit être gagnée dans le ciel avant d'être gagnée sur la terre
- Pourquoi avons-nous besoin de prier ? (Dorothy Rajiah)
- La prière s'empare de l'éternité (Leonard Ravenhill)
- Attitude de Dieu dans la prière
- Réaction de Dieu à l'orant
- La prière énergique
- L'intercession qui changent les circonstances
- Les effets du manque de prière (Jérémy Sourdril)
- Attitude de l'homme dans la prière
- Notre vie est cachée avec Christ
- Etes-vous un bien-aimé de Dieu ?
- Pleure, lamente-toi, puis prie et agis !
- Effets sur l'orant
- La nécessité de communier avec DIEU à travers la prière (Patrick Yoro)
- La prière dans la vie de Jésus (Pierre Arnold)
- Père, pardonne-leur, car ils ne savent pas ce qu'ils font
- .: La prière et les enfants :.
- Amener l'enfant à Jésus dans la prière (Charles Spurgeon)
- Prières d'enfant
- Réponse à la prière d'un enfant
- Étude biblique pour enfants sur la prière
- Étude biblique pour enfants sur la prière 2
- Mère qui prie pour son enfant (Helen Roseveare)
- .: Exhortation à la prière :.
- La dernière mission de nos aînés
- Édifice édifiant !
- Appel à la prière (Benjamin Franklin)
- 14 raisons pour prier
- Trop occupé pour prier ? (Michaël Lebeau)
- L'intimité avec Dieu (K.P. Yohannan)
- Ne rien prendre pour acquis
- Le lien entre la prière persévérante et la foi
- La prière en battant les mains est-elle biblique ?
- .: Prière spécifique :.
- Prière pour la manifestation du fruit de l'Esprit
- La demande la plus importante dans la prière, c'est la sagesse
- Prière de repentance pour recevoir et expérimenter le pardon total d'un péché
- Prière pour la guérison
- Prière pour la délivrance (Pierre-Antoine Eldin)
- Prière pour tout type de provision
- Pétition
- Priez en langue pour votre futur (Audrey Mack)
- Priez en langue quand on ne sait pas quoi demander
- Prière de la foi ou présomption?
- Prière pour du matériel (Oswald Chambers)
- Prière de bénédiction
- Prière de bons souhaits
- Le voeu ; promesse solennelle à prendre très au sérieux
- .: Modèles de priere :.
- Le Notre Père commenté
- Prière du Notre Père (John MacArthur)
- Comment Jésus a-t-il vécu sa vie de prière ?
- Prière de Salomon
- Citations de Jésus sur la prière (Pierre Arnold)
- Citations des apôtres sur la prière
- La prière dans les épîtres
- Élie et la prière (Leonard Ravenhill)
- Prière d'un sénateur (Joe Wright)
- Modèles humains de prière
- La veuve et le juge inique
- Appel à la prière (Zeb Bradford Long et Douglas McMurry )
- .: La prière de louange :.
- N'abordons pas la louange comme si c'était de la prédication
- 7 mots hébreux pour la louange
- La vraie louange
- Seigneur, je te bénis pour ton sang (Patrick Yoro)
- L'action de grâce pour la nourriture
- L'action de grâce (Bernard de Clairvaux)
- L'action de grâce en toutes choses
- .: L'intensité dans la prière :.
- L'école de la prière (Mamadou Karambiri)
- Prière de la foi ou présomption?
- Prier avec audace
- Prier avec audace (Carlo Brugnoli)
- La veuve et le juge inique
- Savoir quand jeûner
- Jeûne de 21 jours en début d'année
- Le jeûne libérateur (Jean-Daniel Piller)
- Un couple marié peut-il avoir des relations sexuelles pendant un temps de jeûne et prière ?
- Jeûne et prière à l'insu du conjoint
- La puissance de la louange, de la prière et du jeûne (Chrysostome)
- .: L'adoration :.
- Étude exhaustive sur l'adoration dans la Bible
- Adorons Dieu en esprit et en vérité
- L'adoration
- Distinction entre la louange et l'adoration
- L'adoration mène à l'évangélisation
- Libre d'adorer (Derek Prince)
- Le modèle du service (K.P. Yohannan)
- La joie dans l'adoration (John Piper)
- L'adoration (Jean Ngabana)
- Le langage corporel dans la Bible
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