Sepulka

Sepulki or sepulcas (singular: sepulka, sepulca) are unclearly defined fictional objects found in works of Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem, The Star Diaries and Observation on the Spot. A fictional dictionary lists them as "objects used for sepuling".

They are translated as Scrupts in English editions of Lem's novels.[1]

Lem's sepulki

Sepulki were first mentioned by Lem's interstellar traveller Ijon Tichy in his fourteenth voyage. It is, however, never explained what they actually are and what their use is.

The Encyclopaedia Cosmica gives the following definitions on the subject:[2]

  • Sepulka – pl: sepulki, a prominent element of the civilization of Ardrites from the planet of Enteropia; see "Sepulkaria"
  • Sepulkaria – sing: sepulkarium, establishments used for sepuling; see "Sepuling"
  • Sepuling – an activity of Ardrites from the planet of Enteropia; see "Sepulka"

Although omnipresent in art and commercials of the alien civilisation Tichy visits, discussions of sepulkas is a major taboo and all of Tichy's attempts to learn about them are seen by the locals as a faux pas. Eventually Ijon Tichy decides to simply purchase a sepulka, but when asked by a clerk where his wife is he admits he's a bachelor, the clerk and other customers are shocked and appalled by his attempt and Tichy is forced to leave the premises.[3]

Sepulki in real life

In 1983-1985, the Polish Union of Fans of Science Fiction (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Fantastyki) issued the award Golden Sepulka (pl:Złota Sepulka) for works of science fiction.[4]

Sepulcidae is a family of extinct hymenopteran insects found in 1968 in Transbaikalia. It was identified by Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn and named by his colleague and science-fiction author Kirill Eskov.[5] See also Sepulca, Sepulenia.

In 1972 Russian paleontologist Nina Shevyryova (Нина Семёновна Шевырёва (1931-1996) described an extinct rodent Sepulkomys eboretus ("eboretus" is another bow to Lem: "eboret" is a type of public transport on the planet Enteropia visited by Tichy in his "Fourteenth Voyage").[6]

In 2007 Wojciech Orliński published a book "Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie" ("What are Sepulki? Everything about Lem") [3].

gollark: It would have more of one if there wasn't the weird indirection insurance introduces.
gollark: Universal healthcare doesn't exactly have a good incentive to be efficient either.
gollark: I don't see why I would want to. Everything just seems to overcharge for no reason.
gollark: I think the NHS is actually cheaper, though, and mostly functions.
gollark: The US just has really broken healthcare.

References
  1. http://english.lem.pl/faq#scrupts
  2. The Star Diaries, The Fourteenth Voyage
  3. Wojciech Orliński, Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie [What are Sepulki? Everything about Lem], 2007, ISBN 8324007989
  4. "Nagroda Złotej Sepulki"
  5. (in Russian) Каракоз Роман. Где живут сепульки: [О двух видах палеонтологических перепончатокрылых — Sepulka mirabilis и Sepulenia syricta] // Новая интересная газета (Киев). — 2004. — № 1. — С. 5. — (Блок Z: Просто фантастика). Annotation
    Quote: Оказывается, сепулек, которые оказались вовсе не моллюсками, а перепончатокрылыми насекомыми, открыл Александр Павлович Расницын (кстати, работающий в одной лаборатории с известным писателем Кириллом Еськовым). Он-то и посылал в свое время Лему свою книжку, где, кроме прочего, были описаны Сепулька удивительная (Sepulca mirabilis) и Сепуление со свистом (дословно – свистящее: Sepulenia syricta).
  6. Шевырева H.С. Палеонтологическая "Тихиана", in the preface to the Russian anniversary edition of Lem's Star Diaries, "Звездные дневники: Рекламно-информационный выпуск: Специальное издание к семидесятилетию Станислава Лема", 1991, p. 10.
    Quote: В память о светлой и безмятежной радости, почти восторге, которые с тех пор уже почти не приходили ко мне, в знак моей глубокой благодарности к писателю за испытанные чувства я описала и назвала в 1972 году некоторых из самых древних грызунов, которые жили почти 40 миллионов лет назад в Монголии и в Зайсанской впадине, – Сепулькомис эборетус (Sepulkomys eboretus) и Ардиномис гламбус (Ardynomys glambus)
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