Premendra Mitra (1904–88) was one of the most versatile writers in Bengali. His oeuvre spanned mainstream novels and short stories, science fiction, detective novels and stories, fiction of the supernatural, literature for young adults as well as children, and genre-defying formats such as the tall tales told by the illustrious Ghanashyam Doss. Mitra was also an acclaimed poet and writer of film scripts. Many of his literary creations have been celebrated in the form of cinema, including the story in this collection, which was filmed by the renowned auteur Satyajit Ray as The Coward<(1965).