By: Anton Chekhov

Questions 1. As you read how do you know that the story will describe events that occurred earlier? 2. How does the different financial situations of the lawyer and the banker affect the terms of the bet? 3. What do you think might happen if the banker losses the best? What do you think might happen if the lawyer looses the bet? 4. What do you believe the two men will look like in 15 years? 5. What are the banker and the lawyer most concerned with at the opening of the story? How do the concerns of the banker and the lawyer change throughout the story? 6. What could be a possible theme to this story? 7. What do you think about the banker's decisions throughout the story? Do you agree or would you go about things differently? 8. Mood is the feeling a story conveys to the reader. What is the mood by the end of the story? How has it changed from the beginning?