The Bet (short story)

"The Bet"
Short story by Anton Chekhov
Original titleПари
CountryRussian Empire
LanguageRussian
Publication
Published inNovoye Vremya
PublisherAdolf Marks (1901)
Publication dateJanuary 16, 1889

"The Bet" (Russian: "Пари", romanized: Pari) is an 1889 short story by Anton Chekhov about a banker and a young lawyer who make a bet with each other following a conversation about whether the death penalty is better or worse than life in prison. The banker wagers that the lawyer cannot remain in solitary confinement voluntarily for a period of fifteen years.