Talk:Bernard Selachii
I have been looking for Sir Bernard Selachii for some time, without success. His name appears fairly frequently for such an obscure character. There are some clues which tend to confirm Sam Vimes's opinion of clues. Viz:
- The German Discwiki places him in The Truth; I can't find him after two scans. (I'm rather proud of the skill I've acquired at skimming the books for minor mentions. It's so easy to be distracted and start reading whole pages.}
- He is mentioned in Twurp's Peerage, without source.
- The Polish site "Discworld" has an anecdote about him, without source.
The likely place seems to be The Assassins' Guild Diary, but I don't have one. --Old Dickens 01:19, 14 August 2009 (UTC)
- Sorry, there was an error in the german discwiki. It's corrected now. Bernard Selachii is just mentioned twice: in The Discworld Companion and the Discworld Assassins' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2000 --Rene 11:20, 14 August 2009 (UTC) (german discwiki)
Oh good. I have The New Discworld Companion, but no original, either. Someone else will have to write something. --Old Dickens 12:57, 14 August 2009 (UTC)
Selachii - Sir Bernard Selachii, skrytobójca.
From the Polish Discworld:-
Selachii - Sir Bernard Selachii, skrytobójca. Sceny z życia: Pewnego dnia spotkał skrytobójcę nasłanego na niego przez rywala w interesach - spędził z nim cały wieczór, wspominając dawne czasy, a podczas toastu pobił go na śmierć butelką brandy. Ciekawostki: Ufundował wysoko cenioną Nagrodę Selachiego za Absolutne Opanowanie.
This needs a translation engine. Or an obliging Pole. I'll go looking for one.
This reminds me of something in the Companion. I'll assume the word "brandy" means in Polish much what it does in English, and this fires a neurone or two. "Opanowanie" - this means something like "style", or "grace", or "Sang-froid", doesn't it? And "absolutne" must link to the English "absolute" - total? "Selachiego" - "of or relating to Selachii"?
Yep. got it. The brandy and something like "total style" gave me the clue. The New Discworld Companion, paperback, p43, article The Assasins' Guild.
"And of course all young Assassins know the story of Sir Bernard Selachii, who, upon meeting an assassin financed by a business rival, spent the entire evening with him, reminiscing about the great days they had shared in Wigblock House, before suggesting that they drink a toast to the Old School, and then, while his would-be assassin held his glass aloft, beating him to death with the brandy bottle. Subsequently, Sir Bernard endowed the Sir Bernard Selachii Award for Sheer Coolth, a much coveted prize to this day."
Son-of-a-b... it was hiding in there all the time! Google will translate the Polish for you, I did that already (it's the same story, of course). --Old Dickens 23:25, 14 August 2009 (UTC) (Good for the large teddy-bear, I should think.)