What is another ending to the story of "The Bet" by Anton Chekhov?

You could really come up with multiple endings that make sense, so I recommend choosing the ending that you likely initially hoped for. 

My ending of choice is the ending I wish the story had ended with in the first place. At the beginning of the story, the banker is confident that capital punishment is more humane, and the lawyer is confident that life in prison is more humane. The two make a bet about...

You could really come up with multiple endings that make sense, so I recommend choosing the ending that you likely initially hoped for. 

My ending of choice is the ending I wish the story had ended with in the first place. At the beginning of the story, the banker is confident that capital punishment is more humane, and the lawyer is confident that life in prison is more humane. The two make a bet about it, and the lawyer agrees to spend fifteen years in solitary confinement.

The ending I originally hoped for was the lawyer walking out of his prison house after fifteen years, politely asking for his winnings, telling the banker "I told you so," and walking happily into the sunset. It's not a very thought-provoking ending, but the story would at least end with a "winner." I feel the actual ending has both the banker and the lawyer losing. They both wind up more miserable than they were when the story began. With my alternate ending, the lawyer wins the bet and exits by leaving the reader with a "happily ever after" vibe.