“The Silence” quotes from The Twilight Zone (1959)

The note that this man is carrying across a club room is in the form of a proposed wager, but it's the kind of wager that comes without precedent. It stands alone in the annals of bet-making as the strangest game of chance ever offered by one man to another. In just a moment, we'll see the terms of the wager and what young Mr. Tennyson does about it. And in the process, we'll witness all parties spin a wheel of chance in a very bizarre casino called the Twilight Zone.

Mr. Jamie Tennyson, who almost won a bet, but who discovered somewhat belatedly that gambling can be a most unproductive pursuit, even with loaded dice, marked cards, or as in his case some severed vocal cords. For somewhere beyond him a wheel was turned and his number came up black thirteen. If you don't believe it, ask the croupier, the very special one who handles roulette in the Twilight Zone.

You, uh, have me at a disadvantage, Mr. Tennyson. In a rather compromising situation. You force me into a position of rather distasteful candor. The truth is I am a fraud. I haven't any money. I offered you $1,000. Then $5,000. I would have had to go out into the street to beg even that amount, let alone a half a million dollars. It's true that I have pride, bearing, taste, exceptional breeding, but I lost most of my money some years ago. Now you have forced me to uncover the situation, proving, Mr. Tennyson, proving that of the two of us, you are by far the more substantial. And I will naturally resign. I will not ask you to suffer my presence any longer. (Tennyson stops him and frantically writes something down, silently gesturing him to read it out loud) "I knew I would not be able to keep my part of the bargain, so one year ago I had the nerves to my vocal chords severed.”