"The singer and his song, the writer and his story. Knowing both gives us a better view and fuller understanding of many classical works. Only when you know Vincent van Gogh can you grasp the meaning of his paintings. So with knowing Anton Chekhov to understand human nature on the philosophical level of life and human existence.
NOTE:
I have included in this lesson quotations by Anton Chekhov to give the
reader an insight of the author's thoughts that reflect the theme of the
The Bet.
Dr Abe V Rotor
I have chosen one of
Chekhov's favorite short stories. The Bet is about two men who
agreed to a bet. Two million rupees is the prize offered by the older
fellow, a banker, to the younger man, a journalist - if he can outlive solitary
confinement. The challenge arose from a heated discussion on which is better,
capital punishment or life imprisonment?
What happened to the
journalist who took the challenge to live in solitary confinement - not only
for five years, but on his volition to fifteen years?
Here towards the end of
the fiftieth year with certainty of winning the bet, the
"prisoner" prepared for his prize and freedom. He wrote a letter for
his opponent-benefactor to read.
To quote:
"Tomorrow at twelve
o’clock 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 is 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 your books
call the good things of the world.
“For fifteen years I have been intently studying earthly
life. It is true that I have not seen the earth nor men, but your books I
have drunk fragrant wine, I have sung songs, I have hunted stags and wild boars
in the forest, 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 mountaintops 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
sirens, and strains of the shepherd’s 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 the
unresting thought of man has 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, illusory and deceptive,
like a mirage. You may be proud, wise and fine, but death will wipe you of
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.
“You have lost your reason and taken a wrong
path. You have taken lies for truth, and hideousness for beauty. You
would marvel if, owing to strange events of some sort, frogs and lizards
suddenly grew on apple and orange trees instead of fruit, or if roses began to
smell like a sweating horse; so I marvel at you who exchange heaven for
earth. I don’t understand you.
To prove to you in action how I despise all that
you live by, I renounce the two million of which I once dreamt as of paradise
and which I now despise.”
Anton Chekhov (1864-1904) Russian writer, wrote
hundreds of short stories and numerous plays. The elements of melancholy,
loneliness, and futility that pervade Chekhov’s works are tempered by touches
of humor and gentle irony. He emphasized mood rather than plot, and
realistic rather than a romantic treatment of life. He once wrote to his
brother, “Don’t invent sufferings which you have not experienced … lie in a
story is a hundred times more boring than in a conversation.”
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