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Ron Reads narrates Anton Chekhov's thought-provoking short story "The Bet," a tale of an impulsive wager between a wealthy banker and a young lawyer about whether fifteen years of voluntary imprisonment is preferable to death.

• Wealthy banker hosts a party where guests debate the morality of capital punishment versus life imprisonment
• Young lawyer accepts banker's wager of two million rubles that he can't remain in solitary confinement for fifteen years
• Prisoner evolves through stages of entertainment, classical study, religious contemplation, and finally transcendent wisdom
• Banker loses his fortune and contemplates murdering the prisoner to avoid paying the debt
• Prisoner's final letter renounces worldly possessions and knowledge, calling all earthly pursuits meaningless
• Prisoner escapes five minutes before the deadline, rejecting the money and leaving the banker in shame

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