It takes place against the background of an ancient and highly developed culture living in large underground cities on Mars.

Asimov wrote the story in 1939 and submitted to the magazine Astounding SF, but was rejected by its editor John W. Campbell, Jr.

He later commented to Damon Knight that he might have just given Wollheim the $5 back in cash after receiving the check, but that the option never occurred to him at the time.

Lincoln Fields, a rich Earthling from New York City living on Mars, is discussing the merits of the highly developed sense of sight and hearing that humans possess, which the Martians do not.

Six months later, using Martian social law in an unethical fashion, Fields forces him to let him feel this sense and Jan reluctantly agrees.