Sepulka

Sepulkas, also renditioned as sepulcas, and called scrupts in English translation,"Scrupts"
at the FAQ page of Lem's official website 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 encyclopedia lists them as "objects used for sepuling".

In-universe sepulkas

Sepulkas 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:

*Sepulka – pl.: sepulkas, 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. Wojciech Orliński, ''Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie'' 'What are Sepulki? Everything about Lem'' 2007, , pp. 191-193.

In the ''Observation on the Spot'' it was revealed that the planet Enteropia in fact did not exist and was but a camouflage for the planet Entia, and all speculations about sepulkas and their "pornosphericity" must be dismissed. It was also revealed there that ''Encyclopaedia Cosmica'' was a hoax.

The last work of Lem, a 2005 essay "Głosy z sieci" ("Voices from the Net"), contained answers to questions of Russian internet users to Lem. Two users wrote that since their childhood they had been bothered with the question what sepulkas are and what's up with their pornosphericity. Lem's answer was, "Well, I have no idea myself."

A comparative review of two new Russian biographies of Lem (published in 2014 and 2015) ends with the remark that both lemologists did not answer what sepulkas were.

"The Fourteenth Voyage" of Tichy was rendered as an animation film in the Soviet Union in 1985. Produced by Azerbaijanfilm in Russian language, this 10-minute film was titled ''From the Diaries of Ijon Tichy. A Voyage to Enteropia'' (russian: link=no, Из дневников Ийона Тихого. Путешествие на Интеропию). In the film, Tichy manages to acquire a sepulkas (an egg-shaped object), but when he tries to board his spaceship (piloted by his friend, 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 kept his double, the standard remedy against the meteorite kills on Enteropia.

Legacy

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

''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. 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").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)

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

Notes

References

{{Stanisław Lem

Stanisław Lem
Fictional objects
Words originating in fiction