Sepulka

Sepulkas (, singular ''sepulka'') (also sepulcas or scrupts in English translation)"Scrupts"
at the FAQ page of Lem's official website are fictional objects mentioned in Stanisław Lem's novels '' The Star Diaries'' and '' Observation on the Spot''. The nature of these objects, their physical properties, and their use are mysterious.

In-universe sepulkas

Sepulkas were first mentioned by Lem's interstellar traveller Ijon Tichy during his fourteenth voyage. Lem never explains what they are nor how they are used.

The ''Encyclopaedia Cosmica'' gives the following definitions:

*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''"

Puzszled with the above circular definitions, Tichy decides to visit Enteropia and learn about sepulkas firsthand. There, he notices that hints to sepulkas are omnipresent in art, media, and commercials, however any discussion about sepulkas is tabooed; Tichy's attempts to learn about them are seen by the locals as a '' faux pas''. Eventually Tichy decides to purchase a sepulka. The salesman asked him where his wife is and he admitted he's a bachelor, which left the salesman speechless. Another attempt of Tichy ended even worse: he asked his friend about sepulkas in a pub. The friend's wife fainted, other customers were shocked, and Tichy was thrown out of the pub. Wojciech Orliński, ''Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie'' 'What are Sepulki? Everything about Lem'' 2007, , pp. 191-193.

In ''Observation on the Spot'' it is revealed that the planet Enteropia does not exist, being just a camouflage for the planet Entia. It is further revealed that the entire ''Encyclopaedia Cosmica'' was a hoax — and therefore any speculations about the "pornosphericity" of sepulkas must be discounted. his friend, professor Tarantoga knew about that, but forgot to want Tichy.

Lem's last work, a 2005 essay "''Głosy z sieci''" ("Voices from the Net"), contained answers to questions from Russian internet users to Lem. Two users wrote that since their childhood they had wondered what sepulkas were and what is their "pornosphericity". Lem's answer: "Well, I have no idea myself."

A comparison of two recent Russian biographies of Lem (written in 2014 and 2015) notes that neither biographer was able to clarify the nature of sepulkas.

''The Fourteenth Voyage'' of Tichy was rendered as a Russian-language animated film in the Soviet Union in 1985. Produced by Azerbaijanfilm, this 10-minute film was titled ''From the Diaries of Ijon Tichy. A Voyage to Enteropia'' (). In the film, Tichy acquires a sepulka (an egg-shaped object), but when he tries to board his spaceship (piloted by professor Tarantoga), he is hit by a meteorite, the plague of Enteropia, and at that moment it is revealed that the purchased egg-shaped object stored Tichys's double, which was the standard remedy against the meteorite kills on Enteropia.

In a 2009 interview to ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' Lem's son Tomasz Lem said that Lem carefully watched that in the translations of his works the word "sepulka" had no associations with any word in the target language. Tomasz Lem also said that he at least knows one thing that a sepulka does ''not'' look like: A fan had once sent his father a painting of a sepulka, somewhat resembling a sailboat. Lem, disappointed, replied that the painting did not resemble a sepulka at all!

The FAQ at lem.pl claims that sepulkas resemble ''murkwie'' and ''pćmy łagodne'', although their uses are completely different.

Legacy

In 1983–1986, the Polish Union of Fans of Science Fiction (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Fantastyki) issued the for works of science fiction. It was superseded by the Janusz A. Zajdel Award.

'' 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.

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

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

References

{{Stanisław Lem

Stanisław Lem
Fictional objects
Words originating in fiction
1950s neologisms
Fictional elements introduced in 1956