Vocabulary in The Bet

The adverb “indiscriminately” means haphazardly and randomly. During the last two years of solitary confinement, the lawyer reads a vast number of books ranging from science to poetry in an enthusiastic and eager manner.

The word “unearthly” has several definitions: first, it can refer to something that is supernatural and mysterious; and second, it can refer to something that is not terrestrial. The lawyer finds “unearthly happiness” from being able to understand all these languages. This demonstrates a shift in the lawyer and foreshadows the ending of the story. As the lawyer studies and begins to understand the world in a new way, he rejects materiality and worldliness.

The verb “to implore” means to beseech someone to do something. Here, the lawyer implores the banker to fire shots in the garden if his letter accurately employs six different languages. The lawyer’s supplication demonstrates how he hopes his studies are not done in vain.

The word “trifle” refers to something of little value or importance. The lawyer agrees to live in the garden lodge for fifteen years as long as the banker agrees to provide him with any “trifles” he desires like books, wine, or music.

The word “caprice” refers to the quality of impulsiveness and sudden decision-making. As the banker looks back on his bet made fifteen years prior, he realizes his poor judgement has left him destitute. This line foreshadows how the banker’s decision many years ago causes him to make another rash decision later on in Part II of the story.

The phrase “solitary confinement” refers to the practice of keeping someone isolated in a prison cell. Readers should notice how the initial bet—determining whether the death penalty or life imprisonment is more humane—transforms into a bet about whether the lawyer can survive in solitary confinement. The theoretical discussion thus takes a decidedly pragmatic turn.

The Latin phrase “a priori,” meaning “from the earlier,” is used as an adjective to describe the act of deriving or deducing a conclusion based on previously-held theories. When the banker says the phrase “a priori,” he is stating that since he has never experienced the death penalty or life imprisonment, his judgment is based on theory and not on empirical evidence.

The term “capital punishment” refers to the legally permitted, state-endorsed practice of killing someone as punishment for a crime. Throughout its history, Russia has had a complicated relationship with capital punishment. Historians date the first documented act of capital punishment to 1398. From then on—during the reigns of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century and Peter the Great in the late 17th and early 18th centuries—capital punishment was used extensively to punish criminals for a variety of illegal acts. Peter the Great’s daughter, the Russian Empress Elizabeth, disapproved of the practice and abolished it in 1754. Later however, the abolishment was appealed and the death penalty continued well into the 20th century. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution in the Soviet Union, shooting criminals was common practice. In 1996, President Boris Yeltsin established a moratorium and in 1999 the Constitutional Court of Russia reaffirmed the moratorium. The last execution in the Russian Federation occurred in 1999 in the Chechen Republic. Currently, capital punishment in Russia is forbidden.