In Ray Bradbury's short story, "The Flying Machine," set
in fifth century China, the Emperor is told by a servant of the miracle he has seen: a
man flying using a machine made of paper and bamboo. The Emperor demands to see this
man.
The inventor explains to the Emperor that he made the
machine for the sake of innovation. The Emperor shows the other man
his own invention, a miniature world placed within a box. It is a wind-up machine with
trees and tiny birds. Even though it is a beautiful thing, the Emperor fears that such
things bring about change, and will, ultimately destroy the Emperor's desire for peace
in the world as he knows it.
This is an example
of foreshadowing. If the Emperor will not share his machine with the world,
he certainly will not agree that the inventor's machine can exist or even be spoken
about to the world at large.
So the Emperor orders that the
inventor must be killed, his machine destroyed, and those who have witnessed the
"miracle" be "silenced."
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