This article compares the 1958 published version of Josef Škvorecký’s (b. 1924) novel Zbabělci (The Cowards) with the recently published 1949 manuscript. It asks whether during the preparations for the publishing of the first edition a fundamental change of meaning occurred in the work or at least in some of aspects of it. The article concludes that the novel was influenced by small, but numerous editorial changes made by the author, which aimed at a more differentiated characterization of the hero, rather than an abridgement.