Bihar Board Class 10 · English · Matric exam 2027
Chapter 3: The Bet — notes
The chapter’s 6 parts in the book’s order — the first idea of each and the points Medha Ma’am writes on the board — and the summary at the end. The full lesson and a check question for each part are in the app.
1. The Party and the Argument
Okay, so today we're reading a story by Anton Chekhov.
- • Anton Chekhov - Russian author
- • Banker: execution kills instantly, imprisonment kills by degrees
- • Lawyer: better to live somehow than not live at all
- • Setting: dark autumn night, banker remembers party
2. The Bet is Made
Okay, so let's see how this bet actually happened.
- • Banker bets: two millions lawyer cannot stay 5 years
- • Lawyer: I bet I'll stay not 5 but 15 years
- • Banker: Fifteen! Done! I stake two millions
- • Lawyer: I stake my freedom
- • Banker's warning: voluntary confinement is heavier than enforced imprisonment
3. Terms of the Bet
Okay, so after the party, the terms were fixed.
- • Place: garden wing of banker's house
- • Not allowed: cross threshold, see people, hear voices, get letters/newspapers
- • Allowed: musical instrument, books, letters, wine, tobacco
- • Time: 14 Nov 1870 (12 o'clock) to 14 Nov 1885 (12 o'clock)
- • Escape even 2 minutes early = banker need not pay two millions
4. How the Lawyer Spent the Years
Okay, so let's see how the lawyer spent those years, one stretch at a time.
- • Year 1: loneliness, piano, light books, no wine/tobacco
- • Year 2: piano stops, asks for classics
- • Year 5: music returns, wine, eats-drinks-weeps, little reading
- • Year 6 (2nd half): languages, philosophy, history - 600 volumes in 4 yrs
- • After Year 10: only New Testament, then history of religions, theology
- • Last 2 years: haphazard reading - science, Byron, Shakespeare, chemistry, medicine, philosophy
5. The Banker's Fear and Decision
Okay, so let's see where the banker is now.
- • Banker now: trembling, unsure of money or debts
- • Fear: paying 2 millions = ruined forever
- • Plan: only escape is that the lawyer should die
- • Action: takes key unopened for 15 years, goes to garden wing at night
- • Intention: smother prisoner with pillow, no trace of unnatural death
6. The Lawyer's Letter and His Escape
Okay, so — before the banker could carry out his plan, he found a sheet of paper.
- • Lawyer's letter: I despise freedom, life, health, blessings of the world
- • Books gave me wisdom - I am cleverer than you all
- • I waive the two millions I once dreamed of as paradise
- • I shall come out 5 minutes before the term - violate agreement myself
- • Banker kisses his head, weeps, feels contempt for himself
- • Next morning: lawyer escaped through window, banker locks paper in safe
Summary
Okay, so let's go back over the whole story once more. It starts with a banker and a young lawyer arguing about capital punishment and life imprisonment. That argument turns into a wild bet — the lawyer agrees to stay in solitary confinement for fifteen years, just to win two million roubles. The terms of this agreement are fixed, very strict. Now, over those fifteen years, the lawyer goes through many stages. First light novels, then classics, then a time of despair, then deep study of languages, philosophy and religion, and finally, he just reads anything, haphazardly. As the fifteen years come close to ending, the banker is ruined. He decides the only way out is to kill the sleeping lawyer, so he won't have to pay. But before he can do that, he reads a letter. In this letter, the lawyer says he has contempt for all worldly blessings and wisdom. He says he'll give up the two millions himself, by escaping five minutes early. The banker is moved, he feels ashamed, and he weeps. The next morning, he finds the lawyer has indeed escaped through the window — giving up the money on his own. Now tell me — why do you think the lawyer chose to leave the money, instead of taking it?
Ask Medha · Medha Ma’am — Bihar Board Class 10 English, Chapter 3. Written from the textbook, checked twice.
Questions parents and students ask
- How do I get the "The Bet" notes as a PDF?
- Press "Save as PDF" — the phone’s print sheet opens; choose "Save as PDF" there. The PDF holds the notes only.
- Where are these notes written from?
- From the chapter’s own textbook text, part by part, in the book’s own terms; a second, independent model then checked every part against the book. The full lesson, a check question for each part and the practice are in the Ask Medha app.
The same preparation, with Medha Ma’am — on your phone
Every question of every chapter with its model answer, practice questions in the board’s own shapes, 45 minutes of class a day, written answers marked, a test every Sunday and a WhatsApp report to parents.
Medha Ma’am is an AI teacher, not a live tutor. Every answer is checked twice; a person takes responsibility.