"The Bet" by Anton Chekhov begins at a dinner party held by a banker. The conversation turns to capital punishment, and the guests discuss whether capital punishment or life imprisonment would be worse. The lawyer says that he'd rather be in prison because at least he would still be alive, and that some life is better than none at all. He then makes a bet with the banker that he can stay imprisoned for the next fifteen years. The banker then bets the lawyer two million dollars that he cannot do it. The lawyer takes him up on his bet and for the next fifteen years (minus one hour) stays in a cell where the banker can keep an eye on him. In the end, the lawyer forfeits the two million dollars because money no longer has the same meaning for him it once had.
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