"Mellonta Tauta" is a satirical short story by Edgar Allan Poe, presented as a letter written in the year 2848 by a woman named Pundita to her friend. While traveling aboard a futuristic hot-air balloon, she offers a series of rambling observations about history, philosophy, politics, and everyday life in her own era. Through her often misguided interpretations of the past, Poe humorously critiques 19th-century society, human vanity, and the cyclical nature of civilization.