The Author tries to “think out of the box”, presenting “Sponsalia ex hoc mundo” (“Hand fastening out of this world”). The title reflects the view that the outer space sciences and the sea sciences are analytically separable, but practically interlinked. It might be observed in the context of space technology and satellite technics, a new system of management and government, as well as a new system of law and policy. Nowadays, the outer space infrastructure (the use of artificial Earth satellites for Direct Television Broadcasting, communications, remote sensing, navigation, military missiles) affects infrastructure of our Planet, including maritime infrastructure. There is, therefore, the need for a new face of integrated system of science and practice.

ARGUMENTUM

Narratur de Thaddaei Zieliński, clarissimi philologi classici Poloni, vita, quam affecerunt magnae mutationes eius aevo in Polonia, Germania et Russia factae.

Death is one of the key concepts present in the traditional image of the world. It means an end and is related to the process of wearing out and losing original properties. In folk anthropology, death is understood in terms of the transition from the earth world to the land of the dead, as the beginning of eternal existence. Death is one of the rites of passage and as such is correlated with other crucial moments of human existence, mainly with birth and marriage. Death is a common motif present in various genres of folklore. Researchers are interested in death predominantly because of its belief- and ritual-related image. The aim of the article is to analyse depictions of death in folk fablesand other kinds of prose works. Special emphasis is placed on the personifi cation of death as well as on its genesis and ontological status. The article also deals with the idea of death understood as both an event and a process, and it addresses death seen as a transcendental and unmaterialised force which determines a person’s life against his or her will.