1. It was a dark autumn night. The old banker was pacing from corner to corner of his study, recalling the party he gave in the autumn, fifteen years before. There were many clever people at that party. They talked, among other things, of capital punishment. Some of them thought that capital punishment should be replaced by life-imprisonment. "I don't agree with you," the banker said. "In my opinion capital punishment is more humane than imprisonment. Execution kills instantly, life-imprisonment kills slowly. “
這是一個漆黑的秋夜。這位老銀行家正在他的書房里踱來踱去，回想著他在15年前的秋天里舉辦的那場派對。很多聰明人出席了那場派對。他們談到了很多事情，其中包括死刑。他們中的一些人認為死刑應該被終身監禁取代。“我不同意你的看法，”這位銀行家說道，“在我看來，死刑比監禁更加人性化。死刑能讓服刑者立即死亡，終身監禁則會慢慢地殺掉他。”
2. Among them was a lawyer, a young man of about twenty-five. He said: "If I were offered the choice between them, I would certainly choose the second. It's better to live somehow than not to live at all." The banker, who was then younger and more nervous, suddenly banged his fist on the table, and cried out: "It's a lie. I bet you two million you wouldn't stick in a cell even for five years." "If you mean it seriously," replied the lawyer, "then I bet I'll stay not five, but fifteen." "Fifteen! Done!" cried the banker. "Gentlemen, I stake two million." "Agreed." said the lawyer.
他們中有一位律師，是一位大約25歲的年輕人。他說：“如果讓我在它們之間做出選擇，我肯定會選擇后者。活著總比根本活不了強。”這位銀行家（當時他比那個年輕人更加年輕，更加焦躁不安）突然用拳頭猛地砸向桌子，大聲喊道：“這是個謊言。我賭兩百萬元把你關在牢房里5年你都受不了。”“如果你是認真的，”律師回答說，“那我賭我可以在牢房里呆上15年，而不是5年。” “15年！好的，成交！”銀行家喊道，“先生們，我的賭注是兩百萬元。”“同意，”律師說。
3. It was decided that the lawyer would be imprisoned in a garden wing of the banker's house. It was agreed that during the entire period he was permitted to have a musical instrument, to read books, to write letters, to drink wine and smoke tobacco. He could also communicate with the outside world through a little window through letters, in silence. The least attempt to escape, if only for two minutes before the fifteen years were over, would free the banker from the obligation to pay him the two million.
他們最終決定將律師關在銀行家家的花園翼樓里。雙方一致同意，在整個“服刑”期間，“服刑者”被允許擁有一件樂器、閱讀書籍、寫信、飲酒和吸煙。他還可以通過一個小窗口用文字的方式與外界溝通，但不能說話。如果在這15年結束前哪怕僅僅兩分鐘他有任何微小的逃跑企圖，都將使銀行家免于向他支付兩百萬元。
4. During the first year of imprisonment, the lawyer suffered terribly from loneliness and boredom. From his wing, day and night, came the sound of the piano. During the first year the lawyer was sent books of a light character; novels with a complicated love interest, stories of crime and fantasy, comedies, and so on.
在監禁的第一年里，律師吃盡了孤獨和無聊的苦頭。無論是白天還是黑夜，都會從關押他的翼樓里傳來鋼琴聲。第一年里，銀行家送給律師讀的都一些輕松愉快的書——有著復雜愛情趣味的小說、犯罪與幻想的故事、喜劇等等。
5. In the second year the piano was heard no longer and the lawyer asked only for classics. In the fifth year, music was heard again, and the prisoner asked for wine. Books he did not read anymore. More than once he was heard to weep. In the second half of the sixth year, the prisoner began zealously to study languages, philosophy, and history. In the space of 7 years, about six hundred volumes were bought at his request. During the last two years of his confinement, the prisoner also read an extraordinary amount. He asks for books about everything: from chemistry, medicine, novels, philosophy to theology.
第二年里，鋼琴聲不再響起，而且律師只要了些經典名著讀。第五年里，音樂再次響起，律師開始要酒喝。他不再讀書了，而且不止一次從翼樓里傳來他的哭泣聲。第六年的下半年里，律師開始潛心研究語言、哲學和歷史。第七年里，應他的要求，銀行家給他買了大約600卷書籍。在被監禁的最后兩年期間，他又做了大量的閱讀。他開始博覽群書——從化學、醫學、小說、哲學到神學無所不及。

6. Only a few hours were now left of the 15-year period, and the banker thought: "Very soon he receives his freedom, and I shall have to pay him two million. I will be ruined for ever …" Fifteen years before he had too many millions to count, but now he was afraid to ask himself which he had more of: money or debts. "That cursed bet," murmured the old man "Why didn't the man die? He's only forty years old. He will take away my last money, marry, enjoy life, and I will look on like an envious beggar and hear the same words from him every day: 'I'm obliged to you for the happiness of my life. Let me help you.' No, it's too much! The only escape from bankruptcy and disgrace—is that the man should die.
現在離15年的期限只剩下幾個小時了，銀行家心想：“很快他就重獲自由了，而我將不得不付給他兩百萬元。我這輩子算是毀了......”十五年前他還擁有數百萬元的財富，而此時此刻他恐怕要問問自己哪個擁有的更多：金錢還是債務。“這場被詛咒的賭局，”老人低聲抱怨道，“那家伙為什么不死？他只有四十歲。他要拿走我最后一筆錢，然后去結婚、享受生活；而我會像一個內心充滿嫉妒的乞丐一樣看著這一切發生，然后聽著他每天說著同樣的話——‘我為能夠獲得現在幸福的生活而對你感激不盡。讓我來幫助你吧。’不，這太過分了！唯一可以讓我逃脫破產和被羞辱命運的途徑就是——這家伙得死。”
7. In the darkness of that night, trembling, the old banker went to the garden wing that served as the prison of the lawyer. The lawyer himself sat by the table. Only his back, the hair on his head and his hands were visible. The banker cautiously put the key into the lock. He expected instantly to hear a cry of surprise and the sound of steps. Three minutes passed, but it was as quiet inside as it had been before. He made up his mind to enter.
在那個漆黑的夜里，這位老銀行家顫抖著走到了作為律師監獄的花園翼樓。律師正坐在桌旁。只能看到他的背部、他的頭發以及他的雙手。銀行家小心翼翼地將鑰匙插入鎖中。他期待著能立刻聽到驚喜的呼喊聲和腳步聲。三分鐘過去了，但翼樓內卻像以前一樣安靜。于是，他決定進去。
8. Before the table sat a man, unlike an ordinary human being. It was a skeleton, with tight-drawn skin, with long curly hair like a woman's, and a shaggy beard. His hair was already silvering with grey, and no one would have believed that he was only forty years old. On the table, before his bended head, lay a sheet of paper on which something was written in a tiny hand. "Poor devil," thought the banker, "he's asleep and probably seeing millions in his dreams. I only have to throw him on the bed, and smother him a moment with the pillow to kill him. But, first, let us read what he has written here."
桌子前坐著一個男人，看上去有些奇怪。那就是一副骨架，皮膚緊緊地貼在骨頭上，留著像女人一樣的長卷發，胡須亂蓬蓬的。他的頭發已經包上了一層灰色，沒有人會相信他只有40歲。桌子上，在他彎下的頭部之前，他的一只小手拿著一張紙，上面寫著些什么。“可憐的家伙，”銀行家想，“他睡著了，可能在他的夢中看到了幾百萬元。我只需要把他扔在床上，用枕頭讓他窒息片刻便可以殺死他。不過，還是先看看他在這張紙上寫了些什么吧。”
9. The banker took the sheet from the table and read: "Tomorrow at twelve o'clock midnight, I shall obtain my freedom and the right to mix with people. But before I leave this room and see the sun, I think it necessary to say a few words to you.” "For fifteen years I saw neither the earth nor the people, but in your books I drank fragrant wine, sang songs, hunted deer in the forests and loved many women. I saw green forests, fields, rivers, lakes, cities, I even conquered whole countries. Your books gave me wisdom. All human thought created over centuries is compressed to a little lump in my skull. I know that I am now cleverer than you all. I do not want to understand you. And I want to show you my contempt for that by which you live, so I waive the two million of which I once dreamed as of paradise, and which I now despise. Therefore, I shall escape five minutes before the end of my 15 years as a prisoner, and so violate the agreement."
銀行家拿起桌子上的那張紙，讀了上面的文字：“明天午夜十二點，我將重獲自由，以及與他人交往的權力。但在我離開這個房間，看到陽光之前，我覺得有必要對你說幾句話——十五年來，我既沒有看到外面的世界，也沒看到任何人，但在你給我的書中，我暢飲了美酒、唱過歌曲、在森林里逐鹿，還愛過很多女人。我看到了綠色的森林、田野、河流、湖泊、城市，甚至征服了所有國家。你的書給了我智慧。幾個世紀以來形成的所有人類思想統統濃縮進了我的大腦。我知道我現在比你們所有人都聰明。我不想了解你。而且我想向你展示我對你所有賴以生存之物的蔑視，所以我要放棄曾經夢寐以求的，能夠讓我過上天堂般生活的，但現在已經讓我不屑一顧的兩百萬元。因此，我會在作為囚犯的15年結束前的五分鐘逃走，以此違反我們的協議。”
10. When he had read the letter, the banker put the sheet on the table, kissed the head of the strange man, and began to weep. He went out of the wing. Never at any other time, not even after his terrible financial losses, had he felt such contempt for himself as now. He had the hardest time sleeping that night. The next morning, the prisoner’s watchman came running to him and told him that the man who was locked in the wing had disappeared. To avoid unnecessary rumours, the banker took the letter of his ex-prisoner from the table and locked it in his safe.
讀完這封信后，銀行家把這張紙放回了桌子上，吻了一下那個陌生男子的頭，開始哭泣。他走出了翼樓。他從來沒有如此蔑視過自己，任何其他時刻都沒有過，即便在他經歷可怕的經濟損失之后都沒有過。那天夜里的他，無眠。第二天早上，看守囚犯的人跑到他面前告訴他，被鎖在翼樓里的那個人消失不見了。為了避免不必要的謠言，銀行家從桌子上拿走那封“逃犯”寫給他的信，鎖進了他的保險箱里。