10/4/2013

The Bet

An old Banker is in his room remembering one party fifteen years ago. At that time he was young and very well-off. At the party guests eventually started talking about Capital punishment and life imprisonment and which one of those was worse. Most of the guests did not approve death penalty but there was one young lawyer who said that both death penalty and life imprisonment were inhuman and cruel because the State is not God, and it could not take individuals life slower by imprisonment or faster by Capital punishment. So it could not take something that it could not give back. The Banker said that death penalty was better because life imprisonment was just a slow death, however by Capital punishment a person will die at once and the issue is over. So they had a bet that the Lawyer would stay in the Bankers lodge for fifteen years without going out or seeing any body, and in return the Banker would give him two million dollars if he would stay this period of imprisonment. During the first year the Lawyer was bored and lonely, and he played his Piano all the time, and read some romantic novels. During the second year he asked for classical books. On the fifth year the Lawyer started playing Piano again and asked for wine. He didnt read, and tried to write something but tore pieces of paper apart, and he cried frequently. At the second half of the sixth year he started learning languages, history, Philosophy, and after year ten he just read the Gospel, History of religion, and theology and for the last two years he had read indiscriminately like he was swimming after a shipwreck. Fifteen years passed, and the Banker was in his room thinking that tomorrow he will have to let his prisoner go, and he will give his last money away since he lost most of his money in Stock Exchange. So the Banker decided to murder the young Lawyer. He went to the lodge and saw his prisoner asleep and sitting as a skeleton with the skin drawn tight over his bones, his face was yellow with and earthy tint in it, his back long and narrow, and his condition was dreadful to look at while he was only forty. He saw a piece of paper on the table that reads: Tomorrow at noon 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 un resting 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. The Banker put the paper down and kissed the young man and left, and on the next day he found out that his prisoner had ran away five hours ahead and refused to take the two million prize. The Bet emphasizes the idea that the life of a human is far more valuable than money. This short story made change for the life of two humans. As the fifteen years passed, the Lawyer discovers the significance of human life. Materialism had blinded the Lawyer to such an extent that he sacrificed his freedom and youth just to claim a sum of two millions at the end of his selfimposed confinement. It was during this course of time that he realized that knowledge was true health. So he embarked on a journey to enlighten himself. He read voraciously and became a man of letters. He also renounced his claim over his prize money, which drives home the point that knowledge is the light which dispels the pall of greed and materiality. On the other hand the Banker after having lost a fortune on the stock exchange was prepared to murder the Lawyer in cold blood to save himself from paying up the two million dollars and this tells us that money drives man to commit the most heinous of all crimes. As for the questions: the banker represents money/materialistic things in life and the prisoner represents the greed filled in everyone and I didnt feel any sympathy for the banker even when he cried because he is a worthless back stabbing piece of a man who does not deserve to live, because after fifteen years of imprisonment for the prisoner he decided to kill him why because he was envious and is not able to pay the amount of money because he didnt spend his money wisely. As for the prisoner at first I dont feel sympathy for him because his purpose was only money and not to gain knowledge and wisdom, but after all what he went though I felt sympathy when the banker wanted to kill him because after all this knowledge that he gained which could be given to the next generation to become better wouldve been gone in vain. As I mentioned before the prisoner ordered the books in that order because knowledge is a ladder you have to start from the first step to reach higher levels but unfortunately we will never reach the end of this ladder because knowledge is endless. He wrote the letter scorning the entire world because they are all wasting their time on useless things that will not benefit anyone, and many of which are greedy and materialistic and only care

for themselves, I keep finding the rich people in world are getting richer and poor people are getting poorer, and education is getting lower, many people despise education and they dont learn it because they love it but because they have to learn it to earn this status in life and to find a job that could provide food to them. The banker accepts the letter because after all what he was going to do to the prisoner and the only thing the banker was thinking of was the money but the prisoner after all what he went through how he has transformed from a money loving person to a knowledge seeking person. I believe the banker locked the letter in the safe to eternalize to and to always remind him that money and fame fades but knowledge never fades and it will always be by your side.

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