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The Bet

一

I

那是一个漆黑的秋夜。老银行家在书房里来回踱步，回忆起十五年前的一个秋夜，他曾举办过一次晚宴。当时来了许多聪明人，席间展开了很有意思的谈话。

It was a dark autumn night. The old banker was walking up and down his study and remembering how, fifteen years before, he had given a party one autumn evening. There had been many clever men there, and there had been interesting conversations.

除其他话题外，他们还谈到了死刑。客人们的大多数——其中有许多记者和学者——都不赞成死刑。

Among other things they had talked of capital punishment. The majority of the guests, among whom were many journalists and intellectual men, disapproved of the death penalty.

他们认为这种惩罚形式已经过时、不道德，并且不适合基督教国家。在其中一些人看来，各地都应当用终身监禁来取代死刑。

They considered that form of punishment out of date, immoral, and unsuitable for Christian States. In the opinion of some of them the death penalty ought to be replaced everywhere by imprisonment for life.

“我不同意你们的看法，”主人银行家说，“死刑和终身监禁我都未曾体验过，但如果可以先验地判断，死刑比终身监禁更合乎道德，也更人道。

“I don’t agree with you,” said their host the banker. “I have not tried either the death penalty or imprisonment for life, but if one may judge a priori, the death penalty is more moral and more humane than imprisonment for life.

死刑一下子就把人处死，而终身监禁则是慢慢地折磨致死。哪一个刽子手更人道呢？是在几分钟内处决你的人，还是在漫长的岁月里慢慢榨干你生命的人？”

Capital punishment kills a man at once, but lifelong imprisonment kills him slowly. Which executioner is the more humane, he who kills you in a few minutes or he who drags the life out of you in the course of many years?”

“两者同样不道德，”一位客人评论道，“因为两者的目的都是一样的——剥夺生命。国家不是上帝。它无权夺走它想要归还时却无法归还的东西。”

“Both are equally immoral,” observed one of the guests, “for they both have the same object—to take away life. The State is not God. It has not the right to take away what it cannot restore when it wants to.”

客人们当中有一位年轻的律师，一个二十五岁的年轻人。当被问及看法时，他说：

Among the guests was a young lawyer, a young man of five-and-twenty. When he was asked his opinion, he said:

“死刑判决和终身监禁判决同样不道德，但如果非要在死刑和终身监禁之间做出选择，我一定会选第二种。无论如何活着，总比根本不活着要好。”

“The death sentence and the life sentence are equally immoral, but if I had to choose between the death penalty and imprisonment for life, I would certainly choose the second. To live anyhow is better than not at all.”

激烈的讨论随之展开。银行家在当年更年轻、更容易冲动，他突然被情绪冲昏了头脑；他用拳头捶着桌子，冲那个年轻人喊道：

A lively discussion arose. The banker, who was younger and more nervous in those days, was suddenly carried away by excitement; he struck the table with his fist and shouted at the young man:

“这不是真的！我跟你赌两百万，你绝不可能在单独监禁里呆上五年。”

“It’s not true! I’ll bet you two millions you wouldn’t stay in solitary confinement for five years.”

“如果您是当真的，”年轻人说，“我接受这个赌注，但我不是呆五年，而是十五年。”

“If you mean that in earnest,” said the young man, “I’ll take the bet, but I would stay not five but fifteen years.”

“十五年？一言为定！”银行家叫道，“先生们，我押上两百万！”

“Fifteen? Done!” cried the banker. “Gentlemen, I stake two millions!”