First published in Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1950.
This kind of
twist-in-the-tail story is really becoming a feature of this volume.
There were a few in the previous anthologies in this series – Out of the Sub-Universe in volume one, and Almost Human and The 4 SidedTriangle in volume two - but most of the stories are generally adventure stories or satirical traveller’s tale.
The twist in the tale
typically takes the form of bad luck of the kind you reap when your
sowing choices are poor. In this way the genius scientist is
destroyed by his own work, the foolish lover loses their heart’s
desire and the choice you made is never what it seems.
These stories are a
sort of joke. They trick us like a joke does. But like a joke, after
you’ve seen the trick you need something else to keep this type
of story interesting.