Dorian Haarhoff
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They called him tortoise because he taught us
Alice in Wonderland
the tortoise is -

the waters; the moon; the Earth Mother;
the beginning of creation; time;
immortality; fecundity; regeneration.

In China it is possessed with oracular powers.
The Cosmic Tree grows out of the back of the tortoise.

From: An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols
by J. Cooper
In the beginning
there was a great tortoise
who supported the world.
Upon him
all ultimately rests.
He is all wise
and can outrun the hare.
in the night his eyes carry him
to unknown places.

William Carlos Williams