The banker threw a party and among the guests were intellectuals and journalists who were against the death penalty. The banker claimed that the death penalty was more humane than life in prison.
“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?”
A young lawyer of 25 years of age claimed that if he had a choice he would choose to live.
“To live anyhow is better than not at all.”
The banker bet him 2 million dollars that he would not last in solitary confinement for 5 years. The young lawyer took his bet but wagered that he could live 15 years in solitary confinement. If he left the confinement even 2 minutes before the time was up, he would loose the bet and get nothing.
“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.“
The confinement started on November 14, 1885 at 12:00 noon. Can you guess how it went? You will have to read the story to find out.
The idea of spending almost all my time sitting around reading books without worrying about day to day troubles of the outside world would be appealing to me. However, I wouldn’t last very long without being able to go outside and not being able to socialize. How about you?
I really enjoyed this story. It is well written and thought provoking. You can read it here.
Also reviewed by:
Short Story Monday is hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
I wanted it to be more thought-provoking than I thought it was. My review is here.
I haven’t read this one, but I do wonder why he raised the bet to 15 years.
I don’t think I’d last long either.
I can certainly understand and see your point of view, John. Thanks for the link.
Carol, I wanted to slap him for raising it to 15 years. I was actually wondering if, at only 25 year’s old, he already wanted an excuse to escape day to day life in the real world? There is no hint of that in the story though.
I listened to this on The Classic Tales Podcast! I think I’d like to read it now too.
rosita dot p dot mariani(at)gmail dot com
Rosita, I haven’t heard of The Classic Tales Podcast, I’ll have to check that out.
Teddy, I think it’s great! It’s free on iTunes and there are some wonderful titles there. (http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-classic-tales-podcast/id258214995) One guy does the voices and he is excellent. The episodes expire after a while on iTunes so I have a free subscription and get the automatic download. That way I can listen to files from last year (which is when The Bet was done).