Rabindranath Tagore wrote short stories at every stage of his life. His first story was published when he was sixteen, and his last few stories were written a few months before his death. His short stories place him securely among the great masters of the art in the world. They exhibit all the characteristic qualities of his genius— his vivid imagination coupled with a penetrating insight into reality, his wide humanity, his intolerance of wrong and injustice, his matchless constructive ability.

The translation by different hands of the nine stories in this volume were published in various journals in Bengal, but have not appeared in any book till now. They are here presented in the hope that they will help to convey to readers not conversant with Bengali, something, at least, of the power and charm of the orignial stories.