I read a lot, as in hundreds and hundreds, of short stories in school, but this one was new to me. The banker took the note and locked it in his safe. Instead of finishing the 15 years, he escaped through a window five minutes before the time was up. The note explains that the lawyer now despises freedom and all things earthly because he was able to experience all the same things through the books that he read. He has been careless with his money and upholding this bet would “ruin him.” He contemplates killing the lawyer, however, when the banker went to carry his evil plan out, he found the lawyer motionless at his desk with a note beside him. Over the next 15 years, the lawyer occupied his time with playing the piano, reading, and learning six new languages.Īs the fifteenth year draws closer, the banker begins to regret the bet he made with the lawyer. The lawyer was allowed to have a musical instrument, books, wine, and tobacco, if he wished.
He can have no interaction with the outside world other than a small window in the room and communication was to be by a piece of paper slipped underneath the door. The lawyer enters his “cell,” a locked wing in the banker’s home, and begins the 15 years voluntary imprisonment. The lawyer, trying to prove himself, ups the bet to 15 years. Finally, the banker bets the lawyer two million dollars that he couldn’t be confined to a cell for more than five years. They banter back and forth for a bit, the debate escalating all the while. Different though is the lawyer who believes both are evil, but a life sentence is better so one could live a life than no life at all. The banker believes that capital punishment is better and more humane than a life sentence because it kills instantly, where a life sentence kills one slowly. I bet you’ll read it twice!Ī banker, lawyer, and other guests at a party are chatting and the conversation eventually turns toward the topic of capital punishment. Oh man, this short story really got my brain spinning! If you haven’t read it yet, you’re in for a treat.
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