What request does Mrs. Dubose make of Jem? Is this a fair punishment for his crime?

The irritable Mrs.Henry Lafayette Dubose was angry after
Jem nearly destroyed her camellias in Chapter 11 of To Kill a
Mockingbird. Of course, Mrs. Dubose had prompted Jem's action by calling him
a liar, insulting Scout's femininity, and telling him that Atticus "was no better than
the niggers and trash he works for!" Jem responded by chopping down the old woman's
camellia bushes with Scout's new baton. After Atticus demanded that Jem apologize in
person, Mrs. Dubose demanded that he read to her everyday after school and on
Saturdays.

Was the punishment just? Probably so, and in the
end, Jem probably realized it, too. What he didn't know during the long month of reading
to the bedridden Mrs. Dubose was that her intent was for him to take her mind off her
pain: She was going cold turkey after being addicted to morphine for years. She desired
to die drug-free, and not long after Jem's punishment ended, she did just
that.