Question

Why does the prisoner decline any wine at the beginning of his imprisonment in the bet

Answer 1

In the end of the story, "The Bet," the lawyer despairs of life, and he reneges on the wager with banker. In their bet about which is crueler, live-long imprisonment or capital punishment, the banker and the lawyer wager their futures. The young lawyer argues that life on any terms is better than death.

Answer 2

In the short story "The Bet", by Anton Chekhov, at the beginning of his imprisonment, the lawyer declines both wine and tobacco. Wine, he wrote, excites the desires and desires are the worst enemies of a prisoner. And, because nothing could be more dreary than drinking a glass of good wine and seeing no one. And tobacco because it could spoil the air of his room.