A Sound of Thunder. Bradbury ray - and thunder struck And thunder struck read a short

A Sound of Thunder is a famous science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury. First published June 28, 1952 in Collier's. He was included in the author's collections "The Golden Apples of the Sun" (The Golden Apples of the Sun, 1953), "R - means a rocket" (R is for Rocket, 1964), etc. Ranks first in the number of reprints among all science fiction stories, according to Locus magazine. First published in Russian in 1965.

A Sound of Thunder
story, 1952;

Annotation:
Dinosaur hunting is easy. Pay money, get acquainted with the rules and go. Just remember: don't go off the path...

Eckels, an amateur hunter, goes on safari in the Mesozoic era for big money, along with several other hunters. However, hunting for dinosaurs is subject to harsh conditions: you can only kill the animal that should be about to die without it (for example, killed by a broken tree), and when returning, you must destroy all traces of your stay (including pulling bullets from the body of the animal) not to make changes in the future. People are on an anti-gravity path so as not to accidentally hit even a blade of grass, as this can bring unpredictable upheavals to history. Safari leader Travis warns:

Crush a mouse with your foot - it will be tantamount to an earthquake that will distort the face of the entire Earth, radically change our destinies. The death of one caveman is the death of a billion of his descendants, strangled in the womb. Maybe Rome will not appear on its seven hills. Europe will forever remain a dense forest, only in Asia will flourish life. Step on a mouse and you will crush the pyramids. Step on a mouse and you'll leave a dent in Eternity the size of the Grand Canyon. There will be no Queen Elizabeth, Washington will not cross the Delaware. The United States won't show up at all. So be careful. Stay on the path. Never leave her!

While hunting, Eckels, seeing a tyrannosaurus rex, panics and leaves the trail. After returning to their time, the hunters suddenly discover that their world has changed - a different spelling of the language, a dictator is in power instead of a liberal president. The cause of this catastrophe is immediately revealed: Eckels, having gone off the path, accidentally crushed a butterfly. Travis raises the gun. The fuse clicks. The last phrase repeats the title of the story: "... And thunder struck."
[edit] Meaning

The story is often cited in works on chaos theory because it illustrates the so-called butterfly effect (this term appeared later and is not associated with the butterfly crushed by Eckels, the term was fixed after the publication in the 60s of the scientific work of Edward Lorenz entitled "Predictability: can a wave butterfly wings in Brazil cause a tornado in Texas?").

Biography of Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury (1920 -) is an American writer, born in Waukegen, Illinois.
An acclaimed and highly prolific writer of science fiction, Bradbury skillfully blends social and technological critiques with delightful fantasy.
For the entire biography of Ray Bradbury, his most famous work is, perhaps, The Martian Chronicles (The Martian Chronicles, 1950). This is a story about the destruction of the Martian civilization by the greedy and immoral inhabitants of the Earth. This story was the basis of a film (1966) and several television series (1980).
Bradbury also writes screenplays for plays and films, detective novels, children's stories and poetry.

Year of publication of the story: 1952

Ray Bradbury's short story "There Came Thunder" is rightfully considered a classic of science fiction. This story by the writer, consistently ranked high among, is considered the most reprinted in the world. And its importance in world literature is difficult to overestimate. So the story "Thunder Came" by Ray Bradbury is mentioned more than once in other significant works, and in many countries of the world it is included in the curriculum. And in 2005, this short story was quite successfully filmed.

Ray Bradbury's "Thunder Came" Summary

In Ray Bradbury's story "Thunder Came" you can read about the amateur hunter Eckels. He raised money to travel back in time and hunt the real T-Rex. Such prey should be the crowning achievement of his collection. And despite the many restrictions that apply during such a safari, he is simply happy.

Further in Bradbury's short story "Thunder Came" you will find out what restrictions the head of the hunt, Travis, sets. They strongly demand that during the hunt, Eckels does not leave the special anti-gravity path. After all, even a crushed blade of grass can lead to irreparable changes in the future. You can only kill an animal that, for natural reasons, will soon die. In this case, in the future, all traces of your stay should be removed. Including bullets.

But during the meeting with the dinosaur, everything went wrong as planned by the protagonist of the book "Thunder Came" by Ray Bradbury. The sight of the moving giant frightened Eckels so much that he left the path and rushed to run. While the rest of the group fought the T-Rex, Eckels climbed into the time machine.

Returning to their time, the group of hunters from Ray Bradbury's story "Thunder Came Out" discover dramatic changes. Not only the spelling, the president of the country, and even the person has changed. The Earth's atmosphere itself has changed. Eckels examines himself. On the sole of his boots, he discovers a butterfly, which he crushed when he got off the path. Horrified, he offers to go back and make things right. But Travis raises his gun... "And there was thunder."

The story "And Thunder Crashed" on the Top Books website

The popularity of Ray Bradbury's story "And Thunder Came" to read is so high that it is not the first time it has been presented among. At the same time, its relevance and popularity does not decrease over the years. Therefore, in the future ratings of our site, it will certainly take its rightful place.

The amateur hunter Eckels buys time travel to the Mesozoic era.

the most damn adventure a real hunter can dream of. Journey back sixty million years and the greatest loot of all time.

The head of the hunt, Travis, reports severe restrictions. You can only kill an animal that already dies. You can not leave the anti-gravity path, which isolates the aliens from the future. Returning in due time, it is necessary to destroy all traces of staying in the past. Cannot provide any

Impact on the world.

The time machine is tricky business. Without knowing it, we can kill some important animal, a pichuga, a beetle, crush a flower and destroy an important link in the development of a species.

The hunters arrive in the Mesozoic and go deep into the endless jungle. Seeing a tyrannosaurus rex, Eckels is frightened - it seems to him that it is impossible to kill this monster,

It walked on huge, shiny, springy, softly stepping legs. It towered thirty feet above the forest, the great god of evil pressing the watchmaker's frail hands against the reptile's oily chest.

The hunter gets scared, leaves the anti-gravity path and heads

Straight into the jungle. While the guides are fighting the dinosaur, Eckels somehow returns to the trail and hides in the time machine,

Returning to their time, the hunters suddenly discover that their world has changed. The colors and chemical composition of the atmosphere, the person, and the spelling rules of the language have become different. Instead of a liberal president, a dictator is in power.

All the pores of the body, he caught something strange, alien. It was as if somewhere someone had blown a whistle that only dogs can hear.

Eckels examines the soles of his boots and discovers a butterfly stuck to one of them, which he accidentally crushed while making his way through the prehistoric jungle. Mortally frightened, Eckels offers to go back and fix everything, but Travis does not listen to his pathetic babble, he raises his gun: "... And thunder struck."

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Ray Bradbury

A Sound of Thunder

The notice on the wall blurred as if it had been covered in a film of gliding warm water; Eckels felt his eyelids closing, closing his pupils for a fraction of a second, but even in the momentary darkness the letters burned:

A/O SAFARI IN TIME

WE ORGANIZE SAFARI IN ANY YEAR OF THE PAST

YOU CHOOSE THE LOOT

WE DELIVER YOU TO THE PLACE

YOU KILL HER

Warm mucus has accumulated in Eckels's throat; he swallowed hard. The muscles around his mouth twisted his lips into a smile as he slowly raised his hand, which dangled a check for ten thousand dollars meant for the man behind the desk.

– Do you guarantee that I will return from the safari alive?

“We guarantee nothing,” replied the clerk, “except dinosaurs. He turned. - Here is Mr. Travis, he will be your guide to the Past. He will tell you where and when to shoot. If he says "don't shoot", then don't shoot. Do not follow his orders, upon your return you will pay a fine - another ten thousand, in addition, expect trouble from the government.

At the far end of the huge office space, Eckels saw something bizarre and indefinite, writhing and buzzing, an intertwining of wires and steel casings, an iridescent bright halo, now orange, now silver, now blue. The rumble was as if Time itself was burning on a mighty fire, as if all the years, all the dates of the chronicles, all the days were piled up and set on fire.

One touch of the hand - and immediately this burning will obediently back up. Eckels remembered every word of the announcement. From ashes and dust, from dust and cinders will rise like golden salamanders, old years, green years, roses will sweeten the air, gray hair will turn black, wrinkles and folds will disappear, everything and everyone will turn back and become a seed, rush from death to its source , the suns will rise in the west and sink into the glow of the east, the moons will wane from the other end, everything and everyone will be like a chicken hiding in an egg, rabbits diving into a magician's hat, everything and everything will know a new death, seed death, green death, returns at the time before conception. And it will be done with a single movement of the hand...

“Damn it,” Eckels breathed; on his thin face flashed light from the machine - a real time machine! He shook his head. - Just think about it. Had the elections ended differently yesterday, perhaps today I would have come here to flee. Thank God that Keith won. The United States will have a good president.

“Exactly,” said the man behind the desk. - We were lucky. If Deutscher had been chosen, we would not have escaped the cruelest dictatorship. This type is against everything in the world - against the world, against faith, against humanity, against reason. People called us and inquired - joking, of course, but by the way ... They say, if Deutscher becomes president, is it possible to move to 1492. Yes, but it’s not our business to arrange escapes. We organize safaris. One way or another, Kate is the president, and now you have one concern ...

"... kill my dinosaur," Eckels finished.

– Tyrannosaurus rex. The Loud Lizard, the most disgusting monster in the history of the planet. Sign this here. Whatever happens to you, we do not answer. These dinosaurs have a brutal appetite.

Eckels flushed with indignation.

Are you trying to scare me?

- To be honest, yes. We do not at all wish to send into the past those who panic at the first shot. Six executives and a dozen hunters died that year. We give you the opportunity to experience the most damn adventure that a real hunter can dream of. Journey back sixty million years and the greatest loot of all time! Here is your receipt. Rip it up.

Mr. Eckels stared at the check for a long time. His fingers trembled.

“No fluff, no feather,” said the man behind the desk. “Mr. Travis, take care of the client.

Guns in hand, they silently walked across the room to the Machine, to the silvery metal and the rumbling light.

First day, then night, again day, again night; then day - night, day - night, day. Week, month, year, decade! 2055 year. 2019, 1999! 1957! Past! The car roared.

They put on oxygen helmets, checked their earphones.

Eckels rocked on the soft seat - pale, his teeth clenched. He felt a convulsive trembling in his hands, looked down and saw his fingers grip the new gun. There were four others in the car. Travis is the leader of the safari, his assistant Lesperance and two hunters - Billings and Kremer. They sat looking at each other as the years passed by like flashes of lightning.

Can this gun kill a dinosaur? said the lips of Eckels.

“If you hit it right,” Travis answered through the headphones. - Some dinosaurs have two brains: one in the head, the other down the spine. We don't touch those. Better not abuse your lucky star. The first two bullets in the eyes, if you can, of course. Blinded, then hit the brain.

The car howled. Time was like a film being played back. The suns flew backwards, followed by tens of millions of moons.

“God,” said Eckels. “All hunters who have ever lived would envy us today. Then Africa itself will seem like Illinois to you.

The car slowed down, the howl giving way to a steady hum. The car stopped.

The sun has stopped in the sky.

The haze that surrounded the Machine dissipated, they were in antiquity, deep, deep antiquity, three hunters and two leaders, each on his knees a gun - a blued blued barrel.

“Christ hasn't been born yet,” Travis said. “Moses has not yet gone up the mountain to converse with God. The pyramids lie in the ground, the stones for them have not yet been hewn and stacked. Remember this. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler - none of them.

They nodded.

“Here,” Mr. Travis pointed, “here is the jungle sixty million two thousand and fifty-five years before President Keith.

He pointed to a metal path that led through the steamed swamp into green thickets, meandering between huge ferns and palm trees.

“And this,” he explained, “is the path laid out here for the hunters by the Company. She hovers above the ground at a height of six inches. It does not touch a single tree, not a single flower, not a single blade of grass. Made from anti-gravity metal. Its purpose is to isolate you from this world of the past so that you do not touch anything. Stay on the trail. Don't leave her. I repeat: do not leave it. Under no circumstances! If you fall off it, you will be fined. And don't shoot anything without our permission.

- Why? Eckels asked.

They sat among the ancient thickets. The wind carried the distant cries of birds, the smell of tar and the ancient salty sea, the smell of wet grass and blood-red flowers.

It is this interpretation of the story that Wikipedia spreads among millions of Internet users:
"Eckels, an amateur hunter, goes on a safari in the Mesozoic era for big money, along with several other hunters. However, dinosaur hunting is subject to harsh conditions: you can only kill an animal that should be about to die without it (for example, killed by a broken tree), and when returning, it is necessary to destroy all traces of your stay (including pulling out bullets from the body of an animal) so as not to make changes to the future. People are on an anti-gravity path so as not to accidentally hit even a blade of grass, as this can bring unpredictable shocks to safari leader Travis warns:

While hunting, Eckels, seeing a tyrannosaurus rex, panics and leaves the trail. After returning to their time, the hunters suddenly discover that their world has changed: a different spelling of the language, a dictator is in power instead of a liberal president. The cause of this catastrophe is immediately revealed: Eckels, having gone off the path, accidentally crushed a butterfly. Travis raises the gun. The fuse clicks. The last phrase repeats the title of the story: "... And thunder struck."

MEANING
The story is often cited in works on chaos theory because it illustrates the so-called butterfly effect. However, the term came later and is not related to the butterfly crushed by Eckels, a term that took hold after the publication in the 60s of a scientific work by Edward Lorenz called "Predictability: can the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Brazil cause a tornado in Texas?"
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C8_%E3%F0%FF%ED%F3%EB_%E3%F0%EE%EC

Did Ray Bradbury really devote his story to expounding and popularizing the principle of mechanistic determinism?

Not at all. This "science fiction" story is actually a political-philosophical parable. Tyrannosaurus, which Eckels was afraid of, is a symbol of tyranny. Not a dead butterfly, but the fear of tyranny allows dictators to come to power. The fear of the "little man" (Eckels) helped the fascist Deutscher become president of America. It is only in this sense that Travis' murder of Eckels seems motivated.

So, already in the early 50s, Bradbury saw the threat of fascism in the United States.

This seemingly superficial parable meaning of the story either eludes its interpreters because of their political immaturity, or is deliberately ignored by them.