The Discworld Almanak The Year of the Prawn

Tytuł: The Discworld Almanak The Year of the Prawn
Autor(zy): Terry Pratchett, Bernard Pearson
Rok wydania: 2004
Wydawnictwo: Doubleday

Dlaczego w bazie: Jedna z pozycji-suplementów ze Świata Dysku, sporo w niej wzmianek o żółwiach, przede wszystkim odniesień do A’Tuina. W warstwie graficznej też znależć można trochę żółwi.

Most unusually, this year will see the Great Turtle twice execute a full roll, a coincidence that has not occurred since the Great Comet of the Year of the Quick Sloth.
In times past, these events were a source of great awe and mystery to our rude forefathers, but they are now understood as a perfectly ordinary, nay, even inevitable and desirable con- dition of living in a world that ultimately rests upon the back of an enormous turtle.
One can speculate, as wizards have done, that there are worlds as spherical as the moon, although a little intuition will tell us that no intelligent life could survive long on them (because, for example, walking for any length of time in a straight line would bring you back to where you started, a circumstance likely to cause madness in all who experience it). But, more severely, without a turtle to snap them out of the sky, such a world would be prey to every mischievous comet or random rock.

On May 25 the comet Snape 32 would strike the rimward regions of Howandaland, and on August 7 the large rock named The Late Mrs Edith Barnfather, after the aunt of the discoverer, would land in the sea off Quirm; however, we can be assured that Great ATuin will account for both, with a simple roll in the case of Snape 32 and quite a complex three- dimensional roll-and-twist in the case of Edith Barnfather.

DO NOT BE AFEARED
(’aveared’ being ar worse than being afraid!)
FOR THE TURTLE WILL PREVAIL

We expect on August 3 to witness a Turtle Eclipse of the Sun as one of the mighty flippers, beating the aether with extra force in order to begin the roll, briefly rises above the Rim, and people who tend towards vertigo or seasickness would be well advised to stay indoors at night time, particularly on August 6 when the stars will be moving quite strongly.

A rain of tortoises, which could occasion a broken pate or two, will beset those in Skund but there is good eating on them, so all is equal.

The Krullians have never fallen victim to the perennial heresy that the world is globular and it makes no kind of sense, because they’ve even mapped large parts of the Turtle’s head. When you’ve measured the albedo of an eye thirty miles across, it’s hard to be persuaded that it doesn’t exist.

FORTUNATELY WE MOVE WITH THE TIMES BECAUSE, OWING TO THE TURTLE’S PROGRESS, WE DO, IN FACT, MOVE WITH THE TIMES. STARS APPEAR AHEAD AND FALL BEHIND, AND THUS NEW CONSTELLATIONS CAN BE DEVISED. OF COURSE, SOME ARE SUCH THAT THEY ARE READILY 'PAINTED’ ON TO THE CHANGING SKY, AND SO WE ARE NEVER WITHOUT THE STRAIGHT LINE, THE SMALL BORING GROUP OF FAINT STARS,

The Seventh House
THE HOUSE OF THE STAR
31 THE FAINT STAR MAJOR
32 THE FAINT STAR MINOR
33 THE LITTLE TURTLE
34 THE FLAGON
35 KET’S KNIFE

33 THE LITTLE TURTLE Of the Seventh House.
Large but not too bright, being one star above two more, and then three. When viewed over still water, its reflection gives it its name, although you have to want to see the turtle, if you see what we mean. A useful constellation.

57 FORWARD
Of the Twelfth House.
This star, it has been determined, occupies that point in space to which the Turtle is heading, although it is in fact not a star at all but a tiny point of darkness against a wash of glowing gas. No doubt its nature will be revealed in due course. Those born under this star are always looking forward to tomorrow.
58 AFT
Of the Twelfth House.
A large red star, visited by the Turtle in recent astronomical history, where we were fortunate to witness the birth of a number of new sky turtles whose eggs had incubated in the warm glow as on a beach. Those born under this star are beginning to make their mark as historians and others of that sort who hanker after the past.

THE PITCHER and THE LITTLE TURTLE MEET UP AND ALIGN WITH THE STARFISH and OBJOCK

THE PLOUGH HANDLE ORJOCK, THE LITTLE TURTLE and THE BRIGHT CABBAGE, which is unusual even in a half-year ending.

*NOTE: It is of some scientific conjecture that this may be due to an increase and subsequent decrease in magical activity within the Moon. There may well be a correlation between this tidal ebb and flow of magical strength and some as yet undiscovered natural phenomenon (the heartbeat of Great A’Tuin itself has been put forward by some scholars). Ed.

Ephebian mythology tells us that the cabbage sprang from the fallen tears of a king who was about to be killed by one of the Gods for making water amongst His holy grove of turnips. As the King’s tears fell, the god felt compassion and turned him into a tortoise. He was eaten by an eagle five minutes later, but it’s the thought that counts.

Autor: XYuriTT

Galapagos: Preserving Darwin’s legacy

Tytuł: Galapagos: Preserving Darwin’s legacy
Autor(zy): Tui De Roy
Rok wydania: 2009
Wydawnictwo: Firefly Books

Dlaczego w bazie: Książka o Galapagos, a miejsce to jest bardzo związane z żółwiami, w książce znalazła się więc ogromna ilośc wzmianek o nich (w tym wspominany jest samotnym George). Prezentujemy poniżej oczywiście tylko wybrane kawałki, malutki kawałek wszystkich żółwich wzmianek. Zamieszczamy też oczywiście małe zdjęcia grafik z żółwiami.

Wzmianka o powstawaniu TE:

It was while he was in the Galapagos Archipelago that Darwin noted small differences in the mocking birds from different islands. Also pointed out to him by the local governor were the island variations among the giant tortoises. Later, the finches that were eventually named after him became one of the other triggers for his thoughts on evolution.

O relacji roślin i zwierząt:

These plants have also developed some remarkable relationships with resident animals, their acrid orange to yellow fruits being very attractive to land birds and giant tortoises. Not only does this offer the plants free transport and readily available fertilizer packets aiding their dispersal, but the seeds actually germinate better after passage through a tortoise’s digestive tract. Today, not only have these animal partners been much reduced in abundance and distribution, but a new threat has emerged with the introduction of two species of cultivated tomatoes (S. lycopersicum and S. pimpinellifolium).

O tym jak wulkany wpływają na kształt fauny i flory Galapagos:

Volcanism on Alcedo Volcano has played a rather unique role in that island’s genetic diversity: the explosive eruption of rhyolite nearly wiped out the Alcedo race of tortoise 100,000 years ago. There is substantive genetic evidence that only one female, or her clutch of eggs, survived the eruption — a graphic demonstration of how volcanoes continually reshape the biology of Galapagos.

Przykładowy solidny fragment o żółwiach morskich:

A SEA TURTLE SAFE HAVEN
The green turtle of the Galapagos (above) represents a quandary for taxonomists. Due to its unusually dark coloration and other features, it has been tentatively named the black turtle, Chelonia agassizii, yet geneticists find it identical to the widespread Pacific green turtle, C. mydas. Whichever is correct, the large population nesting in the archipelago is a conservation treasure-trove compared to turtles worldwide. Most sea turtles are in precipitous decline due to a plethora of manmade causes, ranging from direct hunting and nest poaching to plastic bag ingestion, fisheries bycatch, pollution-induced diseases, coastal development, plus predation, trampling and light pollution on nesting beaches. With the banning of longlines from the Galapagos Marine Reserve and the eradication of nest-raiding pigs in critical areas, these islands represent a true safe haven. But sea turtles have survived since before the age of dinosaurs by ranging far and wide across the oceans. Flipper tagging and more recent satellite tracking show that while some appear to be quite sedentary, Galapagos green turtles, like the sharks found in the islands, regularly travel thousands of miles into danger zones along the coasts of Central and South America. This tragedy was graphically illustrated by DC235, a female tagged by CDF researchers while nesting on Las Bachas Beach, Santa Cruz, in February 2004. She was subsequently drowned on a tuna longline hook near Panama in December 2005. Other satellite tracks show turtles moving far into the Pacific, south and west of the islands. How or why they travel so far remains a mystery. Galapagos offshore waters are also on the migration routes of leatherbacks and olive ridleys (below left) from the north, while hawksbills (below right) are infrequent inshore visitors.

Przykładowy solidny fragment o żółwiach lądowych:

Galápagos and their Tortoises

The taxonomic history of the Galápagos giant tortoises is complex and remains unsettled and contentious. Long considered either a single species, Chelonoidis nigra, with multiple subspecies, or different species within the Chelonoidis genus. Although the subject remains controversial, our genetic work has led us to believe that species status is warranted for almost all remaining taxa. Today, there are 15 named species, including a recently discovered one on the island of Santa Cruz (the eastern Santa Cruz tortoises, C. donfaustoi). Four species have gone extinct since humans first arrived on the islands in 1535, one of them in 2012, when the last individual of C. abingdoni from the island of Pinta, a male nicknamed Lonesome George, died in captivity.

The most obvious differences among species is in shell or carapace shape. Some populations have a 'domed’ carapace with a low, gently curved front and rounded profile. Domed populations are most often found on the upper slopes of higher islands where conditions are generally cool and moist, with relatively abundant food supply. This compact shape is thought to provide thermal protection against the cold. Tortoises characterized as 'saddlebacks’ (due to their resemblance to ancient Spanish-style saddles) have a carapace with an elevated anterior opening, and a flatter lateral appearance, with long forelegs and necks. They are found on low, arid islands where resources are scarce and food is the primary limiting factor. This morphology allows longer upward extension of the neck, which permits browsing on higher perennial vegetation. It may also serve in antagonistic displays during inter- individual competition for scarce food or mates, since dominance is established by the individual who can raise its head highest while gaping widely. Several researchers have argued that these distinct morphologies develop adaptively during growth, but the hereditary basis for these differences is evident in both types of tortoises sharm the same environment when reared in captivity.

Of the 11 extant species, those on the islands of Española, San Cristóbal and Pinzón are the most conspicuous examples of saddleback animals, together with the recently extinct species on Pinta, and the mysterious Fernandina tortoise of which only a single individual was ever recorded. The clearest dome types occur on Santa Cruz Island (the Western Santa Cruz tortoise) and Alcedo Volcano on Isabela Island, with less distinctive, intermediate forms on Sierra Negra, Cerro Azul, and Darwin volcanoes, all on Isabela. The population on the northernmost Isabela volcano, Wolf, is of mixed morphology, a fact that is important to our genetic work discussed below.

Podsumowanie losów żółwi:

The most iconic animal of Galápagos, and arguably the most abundant and ecologically important, ended its first four centuries of contact with humans as the most ravaged. By the twentieth century, two tortoise species were extinct, two had a single individual left, a fifth had reached a level so low that no reproduction occurred, and a sixth had no natural recruitment – each year all of its hatchlings were eaten by black rats, which had invaded their island off a sailing vessel in the late 1800s. The biggest threat was no longer humans but the animals that humans had brought with them over the centuries – predators (pigs, rats, dogs, cats, fire ants) and competitors (goats, donkeys, and cattle). After more than a million years in isolation, Galápagos tortoises could not adapt to these new residents and the subsequent destruction of their habitat.
If not for their longevity, more than just four Galápagos tortoise species would be extinct. But with a lifespan of up to two hundred years, aging tortoises in less accessible areas of the archipelago survived to a more enlightened time when the growing fields of conservation and ecology began to focus on the special places of the world, offering hope for restoration of the tortoise populations.

In the 1980s, we joined the growing group of scientists, conservationists, and managers of protected areas, who, since the initial work by the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) in the 1960s, had focused their efforts on ensuring the survival of the remaining Galápagos tortoise species. Linda began in 1981, when she traveled to Galápagos for her Ph.D. research on giant tortoises. Wacho started in 1989, as a young CDRS volunteer working at the tortoise breeding center.

Autor: XYuriTT

Galapagos: The Islands That Changed the World

Tytuł: Galapagos: The Islands That Changed the World
Autor(zy): Paul D. Stewart
Rok wydania: 2006
Wydawnictwo: BBC BOOKS

Dlaczego w bazie: Książkowe uzupełnienie serii Galapagos, także wydanej w 2006 roku. Wyspy te są nierozerwalnie związane z żółwiami, także i w tej książce jest więc mega dużo fragmentów z nimi (w tym z samotnym Georgem). Są spore kawałki skupione na nich bezpośrednio i masa pomniejszych wzmianek! Pokazujemy tylko wybrane, oczywiście! I małe, ale wszystkie grafiki z żółwiami.

Pierwszy fragment wspomina o losie zebranych przez Darwina żółwi:

He muddled his finches (and the Beagle’s crew ate the adult tortoises) and Darwin later had to rely on the finches that FitzRoy and Covington took home, in order to reconstruct the Darwinian take-home message.

Malowniczy opis-porównanie:

Far out in the quiet Pacific, the low-domed backs of massive shield volcanoes rise from the depths. Here and there they break the surface as islands. Across great spans of time these islands have wandered, like so many giant tortoises bathing in a pool.

Wzmianka o ewolucji:

So via the process immortalized by Darwin as evolution through natural selection, a unique assemblage of fauna and flora became, to our eyes, stranger still. Tortoises survived as giants. Iguanas took to the sea to feed on algae.

Fragment o zalewaniu wysp:

Indeed the possibility that tidal waves periodically sweep this archipelago as a result of collapses and sea eruptions is an interesting one. They would undoubtedly result in many animals such as tortoises and iguanas being swept into the seas and perhaps to other islands.

Wzmianka o tym skąd się na Galapagos wzieły zwierzęta:

Sea and air have also brought a very unusual mix of animal life to the shores of Galapagos. Strong swimmers, like sea lions, fur seals, penguins and green turtles, and good fliers, such as albatrosses, shearwaters and tropicbirds, have made their own way here, helped by the currents and prevailing winds, from a range of different locations.

Solidny żółwi fagment:

Giant tortoises, on the back of which the archipelago earned its famous name (see CHAPTER 2), are among the largest of their kind in the world, weighing up to 250 kg. So how did the ancestors of these iconic animals get here and from where did they come? This has long been debated, as have the systematic relationships of these tortoises, ever since Darwin’s visit over 150 years ago. Most believe the first tortoise colonists arrived in Galapagos by rafting in on vegetation from South America, already with a helpful predisposition to gigantism. Evidence to support the latter part of this theory has been found in the Seychelles, where giant tortoises have colonized at least three times. Giant tortoise fossils are also known from mainland South America.
America, scientists have discovered that the closest living relative is Geochelone chilensis, or Chaco tortoise, which lives in dry lowland habitats in Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Patagonia. Evidence from time estimates, based on a molecular clock (a technique used in genetics to date when two species diverge, deducing elapsed time from the number of minor differences in DNA sequences), suggests that the split between G. chilensis and the Galapagos lineage probably happened 6-12 million years ago, before the oldest existing Galapagos island came into being, and it is thought to have occurred on mainland South America. And although no one really knows when giant tortoises first arrived in Galapagos, the oldest subspecies split within G. nigra is estimated to have happened no more than 2 million years ago, consisent with divessification on the existing islands.

O genezie nazwy:

There is a mysterious and very early vellum map, which may even bear the bishop’s hand, placing and naming the islands of Galapagos. Galapagos is the name for a Spanish saddle, which echoed the shape of the tortoises’ large dark shells.

O żółwiach jako źródle pożywienia:

Here being great plenty of provisions, as fish, sea and land tortoises, some of which weighed at least 200 pound weight, which are excellent good food. Here are also an abundance of fowls, viz. Flamingos and turtle doves; the latter wherof were so tame that they would alight upon our hats and arms, so that we could take them alive, they not fearing man, until such time as some of our company did fire at them, whereby they were rendered more shy.

Opis zabijania żółwi:

We own him a debt for some of the best early accounts of the islands, which he described as:
producing neither tree, herb nor grass; but a few dildo trees, except by the seaside. The dildo tree is a green prickly shrub that grows about ten or twelve feet high, without either leaf or fruit … the Spaniards when they first discovered these islands found multitudes of guanoes and land turtle or tortoise … I do believe there is no place in the world that is so plentifully stored with these animals… they are so tame that a man may knock down twenty in a hours time with a club.

Ponownie o zabijaniu żółwi:

As a result of Colnett’s report, for nearly 70 years there was barely a time when commercial whalers were not somewhere in Galapagos waters. Not only did they find whales, occasional fresh water (when they knew where to look) and safe harbour but they also quickly realized the merits of tortoise as the original packaged food. The remarkable, indeed appalling, fact was that not only did tortoises taste very good but they would also survive alive and fresh in the holds of ships for several months (up to two years was reported, though hard to believe). Long after the whales had been locally cleared or deterred from Galapagos, whalers continued to come for the ais until an estimated 200,000 or more adults had been removed. At first they could be collected in the lowlands and on some of the smaller islands, but as these specimens and populations disappeared the men were forced to look deeper and deeper into the interior. The US whalers, who soon followed the British vessels, called it turpining (from terrapin). Soon abundant populations survived only on such precipitous volcanoes as Wolf and Alcedo, and even there the females’ migration to the lowlands to lay eggs (and their lesser weight) resulted in these key members of the population being taken first.

O innych zagrożeniach dla żółwi:

Porter may also unwittingly have helped to spell the near doom of the tortoises he so enjoyed. Putting goats ashore to graze on James (now called Santiago), he discovered that they had overnight opted for freedom (as many more have since).
It is probable their increase will be very rapid; and perhaps nature, whose ways are mysterious, has embraced this first opportunity of inhabiting the islands with a race of animals, who are, from their nature, almost as well enabled to withstand the want of water as the tortoises with which it now abounds
How right he was – by the year 2000 goats outnumbered tortoises on santiago by over 100 to 1 and were clearly set to replae them entirely. It has cost several million dollars, but in 2006 the goats are gone and the tortoises have a future again.

Jeszcze raz o zabijaniu żółwi:

And 50 years later the tortoise massace continued. They were killed as they gathered to drink at the pools of their volcanic fortresses. They were boiled down for oil to light the lamps of Guayaquil. Everyone involved knew the tortoises would disappear quickly. But there were a few good years before that time and people have to earn a living.

Podsumowanie stanu żółwiej populacji:

And what of the famous tortoises? Only three decades after whalers started using Galapagos as a base, hunting for the ship’s larder had taken its toll. FitzRoy had the crew scouring for them but initially found none. Darwin noticed some tracks, well worn by the regular passage of weighty feet. Soon he met them face to face.
He upturned them to see if they could right themselves; they could. He rode them and marvelled at their strength. He measured their speed: 30 yards in 5 minutes — that’s 6 km in a day — quite fast enough to get where you need to go when your world is a small island. But though Darwin was by now completely sold on geology in action — on Galapagos, the brave new world — he still saw these lumbering giants as creatures from a land that time forgot. “Surrounded by black Lava, the leafless shrubs & large Cacti they appeared most old-fashioned antediluvian animals; or rather inhabitants of some other planet.

O iskrze która miała pomóc Darwinowi w opracowaniu TE:

He told Darwin and FitzRoy with great delight hat the Spaniards could tell from which island a tortoise came simply by the shape of its shell.

Ponownie o początkach TE:

He then remembered the conversation on Floreana with Lawson: “From the form of the body, shape of the scales & general size, the Spaniards can at once pronounce, from which Island any Tortoise may have been brought. Again the same pattern: different islands, different tortoises. If Darwin were right and these animals had originally come from somewhere other than Galapagos, it seemed that on different islands of the archipelago mockingbirds and tortoises had then changed into different forms. As a creationist, Darwin believed that species were fixed in nature, as created by God. Even Charles Lyell, for all his controversial views on geology, upheld the sanctity of species.

O losie jaki spotkał żółwie zabrane przez darwina na statek:

To add salt to the wound Darwin had made a similar blunder with the tortoises. Out of 45 adults brought aboard the Beagle, none remained: they had all been eaten and their uniquely shaped shells thrown overboard.

Dalszy rozwój TE:

Since Darwin first heard from Lawson that there were different giant tortoises on different islands, they have been one of the most quoted examples of evolution in Galapagos. They still offer probably the clearest example of how different conditins on different islands can favour different traits. From an original 15, there are 11 surviving populations today, each a distinct type, some domed, some saddlebacked. (It is still debated as to whether they have diverged enough to be called species, hence some say ‘race’ or ‘subspecies’.) As Darwin was told, most types are confined to separate islands, though it’s not just isolation on islands that has caused their evolution. On Isabela there are five types of tortoise on as many volcanoes, separated not by water but by impassable lava fields. Oddly, most have domed shells but the one on Wolf volcano is a saddle-back. Some think it was brought there by sailors. Captain FitzRoy of HMS Beagle believed that all giant tortoises had been brought to Galapagos by sailors from the Indian Ocean. This might help to explain Darwin’s astonishing failure to collect even a single adult specimen, thinking them not native to Galapagos and therefore of no importance. The Beagle did bring back four juveniles, but differences between shells are only noticeable when the tortoises grow old, and that takes a very long time. Many live for 100 years and some estimates don’t rule out there being a tortoise alive today that could have met Darwin.
A far better insight into how tortoises probably reached Galapagos comes from a collecting mission organized by the California Academy of Science in 1905-6. A rowing boat carrying two tortoises capsized and was smashed on the rocks. The crew had to return to their ship by land. The next day they saw the tortoises — happily bobbing about like corks. They had been in the water for 18 hours and were still — going strong.

O żółwiach:

At its best the scalesia forest looks like a good setting for a Grimms’ fairytale. Warbler finches sing among a twisted, low canopy of leafy branches. Vivid vermilion flycatchers zip through the soft greenery, past the predatory yellow gaze of shorteared owls. This too is the haunt of Methuselahan dome-backed tortoises that in their dotage carry a world on their backs in the form of tiny lichens, algae, invertebrates and mosses. The tortoises’ traditional tracks criss-cross these higher transitional and scalesia forests on black mud trails that lead eventually either to water or to the nesting sites in the transition zone below. Dome-shaped shells help during their tank-like negotiations through dense vegetation while not impeding their grazing on low herbs and grasses.
The tortoises’ exceptional size and habit of sleeping in excavated soil bunkers insulate them from the cool night air at these altitudes. Size also helps decide contests between tortoises. Fights begin with aggressive neck stretches that allow competitors to size each other up and, if neither backs down, develop into a bout of serious leg nipping. Perhaps because males fight more, they are larger than females. Evolution seems to work that way.

Ponownie o żółwiach, tym razem morskich:

The beaches of the archipelago offer sunbathing opportunities for another surprising marine creature. Green turtles drag themselves on to the sand to bask, or perhaps in the case of females to escape the intentions of breeding males. This behaviour is unknown in other places in the world, but is a trait of Galapagos green turtles. It was observed and commented on as early as 1697 by the naturalist— privateer William Dampier, who astutely observed that ‘the turtle of these islands Gallapagos, are a sort of a bastard green turtle … [and] different from any others, for both He’s and She’s come ashore in the day time, and lie in the sun, They are of a distinctly dark form, Chelonia mydas agassizi, considered by some to be a separate species and found down the eastern Pacific coast from Mexico to Galapagos. Perhaps their dark coloration helps to optimize absorption of the sun’s heat, the better to cope with the cooler, more productive waters.

Kawałek o Lonesome George:

Lonesome George is surely the most famous and melancholy of all the giant tortoises. He was found in 1971 on the goat-ravaged island of Pinta, already a fully adult male. In 1972 he was brought into enclosures in the Darwin Research Station because he seemed to be the very last tortoise on the island — the last wild member of the Pinta race. He has stayed there ever since.
Pinta was one of the relatively accessible tortoise islands that whalers exploited heavily in the eightteenth to early nineteenth century. When that was over goats arrived and reproduced prodigiously, leading Geroge’s race to final ruin.
When he was brought to captivity there was hope that a female Pinta tortoise could be found in the world’s zoos. A $10,000 reward was offered, but no one took it. Attempts were made to mate George with tortoises from nearby races, but rumour has it that a tortoise’s sexual organs atrophy with lack of use, and he had been alone a long time. He showed no interest in his blind dates. It has even been considered that George could be cloned. But with modern cryogenic freezing, he does not have to be alive to do that.
Today there is often quite a party atmosphere around Lonesome George’s pen. Children and adults are delighted to meet the islands’ foremost celebrity tortoise. His face adorns everything from posters to mugs and T-shirts. Jokes about Viagra abound. He is the patient, wrinkled face of conservation on these islands. Sometimes it is easy to forget that when Lonesome George dies, his entire race goes with him.

Dwa kawałki opisujące gatunki żółwi:

Giant Tortoise (endemic)
Geochelone nigra (elephanttopus)
The largest and best known of the Galapagos land fauna, the giant tortoises are slow-moving reptilian herbivores, browsing on a variety of herbage including grass, cactus and shrub. They are able to go several months or more without food or water, but drink voluminously and bathe when the opportunity arises. Adults of some dome-shelled subspecies may reach over 300 kg (one hit 400 kg in captivity) but less than half that is more typical. Ages of 150 years and upward are hought possible.
During the mating season (around December — January) males engage in contests involving neck stretching and biting. Courtship often entails a chase. Mating is a noisy affair with loud, bellowing groans by the male, and ‘ship’s timber’ creaking of the grinding carapaces. Females migrate to certain parts of the islands to lay their eggs in holes dug at traditional sites. All ages suffer from competition and habitat changes wrought by goats. Intensive conservation based around captive breeding and eradication of introduced species is allowing races threatened with extinction to stage something of a comeback, though it is unlikely tortoises will ever recover to their pre-contact numbers.
Best places to see: in the wild, in the Galapaguera of san Cristobal and in the highlands of Santa Crus. In the later location, their appearance is seasonal – October, November, December are best, lessening in January, but increasing again after June. Volcano Alcedo was once a spectacular visitor site, but is closed at the time of writing. In captivity tortoises can be seen in the pens in the national-park stations on San Cristobal highlands, Isabela (near Puerto Villamil), Floreana in the new highland tortoise-rearing facility, and on Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora), where you can met Lonesome George.

Green Turtle (native)
Chelonia mydas agassisi
The species of turtle most commonly seen in Galapagos. Males are distinguishable — from the females by being smaller with a longer tail. From November to February groups of males can often be seen trying to mate with a single female in lagoons, beaches and shallow coastal areas. Throughout the year look out for heads bobbing up to breathe in open water, and turtles resting in mangroves and lagoon areas. Egg-laying occurs year round with a peak in December and January; females can be sometimes seen returning to the water in the early morning having laid their eggs in nests excavated high up the beach.
Best places to see: group mating in protected bays and lagoons, such as the beach at Punta Cormorant (Floreana), Tortuga Bay, Tortuga Negra (Santa Cruz) and Los Tunelos (Isabela). Also at sea when coming to surface to breathe. A regular cleaning station is found on the sandy bottom of Santa Fe bay.

Autor: XYuriTT

Mroczna Wieża VI: Pieśń Susannah

Tytuł: Mroczna Wieża VI: Pieśń Susannah
Tytuł oryginału: The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
Autor(zy): Stephen King
Tłumaczenie: Krzysztof Sokołowski
Rok wydania: 2004 (ENG), 2005 (PL)
Wydawnictwo: Donald M. Grant (ENG), Albatros (PL)

Dlaczego w bazie: Kolejny, szósty tom serii Mroczna Wieża, z mega sporą ilością żółwich fragmentów! Tym razem prezentujemy więc nie wszystkie a jedynie część fragmentów w których są żółwie wzmianki – i tak wyszło tego bardzo dużo! Właściwie wszystkie fragmenty kręcą się w ten czy inny sposób wokół Maturina, jest też nawiązanie do Żółwi aż do końca.

Eddie?
– Jesteśmy na ścieżce Niedźwiedzia, drodze Żółwia – powiedział Eddie obojętnie. – Nie mam pojęcia, jakie może to mieć znaczenie, skoro idziemy tylko do Mrocznej Wieży, ale po drugiej stronie jest to ścieżka Żółwia, droga Niedźwiedzia. – I wyrecytował:
Spójrzcie na żółwia o ogromnej skorupie!
Co na swych plecach całą Ziemię niesie.
Choć myśli wolno, lecz zawsze rozważnie
I każdego z nas swym umysłem sięgnie
Rosalita uśmiechnęła się
I zna prawdę, lecz pomóc nie jest w stanie
W nim obowiązek i miłość złożone,
Kocha ziemię, kocha morze,
Kocha też ciebie, niebożę.
– Nie całkiem tego nauczyłem się w kołysce, a potem uczyłem przyjaciół, ale blisko, bardzo blisko. Stawiam na to zegarek i ostrogi.
– Wielki Żółw nazywa się Maturin. – Jake wzruszył ramionami. – Jeśli ma to jakieś znaczenie.1

Była tam fontanna, a obok niej metalowa rzeźba, przedstawiająca żółwia o mokrej od wodnej mgiełki, lśniącej skorupie. Ale Trudy Damascus nie obchodziła ani fontanna, ani żółw. Najważniejsze, że w pobliżu stała ławka.
Znów pojawił się napis IDŹ. Trudy potruchtała przez ulicę tak ociężale, jakby miała nie trzydzieści osiem, ale osiemdziesiąt trzy lata. Usiadła ciężko. Oddychała powoli i głęboko i po jakichś trzech minutach poczuła się odrobinę lepiej.
Obok ławki stał kosz z troskliwie wykaligrafowanym napisem: TO WŁAŚCIWE MIEJSCE NA ŚMIECI. Poniżej, czerwonym sprejem, ktoś wypisał niezwykłe graffiti: SPÓJRZ NA ŻÓŁWIA O OGROMNEJ SKORUPIE. Trudy widziała żółwia, ale nie poświęciła uwagi jego skorupie, wręcz przeciwnie, na oko zwierzę wydało się jej raczej skromne. Oprócz niego dostrzegła coś jeszcze: egzemplarz „New York Timesa”, zwinięty w rurkę tak, jak zawsze zwijała swój, gdy chciała cieszyć się nim odrobinę dłużej i miała przy sobie jakąś torbę.
Oczywiście gdzieś tu, w najbliższej okolicy, znalazłoby się pewnie z milion egzemplarzy „Timesa”, ale ten był jej.
Wiedziała o tym, nim rozwinęła go i na wszelki wypadek sprawdziła krzyżówkę, którą prawie rozwiązała podczas lunchu, piórem z charakterystycznym, liliowym atramentem.
Wyrzuciła gazetę do kosza, gdzie było zresztą jej miejsce.
Przez Drugą Aleję spojrzała tam, gdzie tak drastycznie zmieniło się jej pojęcie o funkcjonowaniu świata. Drastycznie i zapewne na zawsze.
Zabrała mi buty. Przeszła przez ulicę, usiadła przy żółwiu i włożyła je. Zatrzymała torbę, ale wyrzuciła gazetę. Na cóż jej była torba? Przecież nie miała butów, które mogłaby do niej schować.2

Niedaleko ulicy, przy fontannie i metalowej rzeźbie żółwia stała ławka. Na widok żółwia Susannah poczuła ulgę; było tak, jakby sam Roland zostawił jej ten znak, sigul w jego mowie.3

Susannah wyjęła z kieszeni małą figurkę żółwia, wyrzeźbioną w kości. Może nawet była to kość słoniowa, w każdym razie wyglądała podobnie. Każda płytka skorupy przedstawiona była szczegółowo i wyraźnie, choć samą skorupę szpeciła rysa do złudzenia przypominająca znak zapytania.
Żółw wysuwał łebek spod skorupy. Oczy miał czarne, zrobione z czegoś podobnego do smoły, wręcz nieprawdopodobnie żywe.
Susannah dostrzegła jeszcze jedną skazę figurki: nie rysę, lecz pęknięcie.
– Jest taka stara – powiedziała szeptem. – Taka nieprawdopodobnie stara.
Tak, przytaknęła Mia.
Susannah trzymała w ręku figurkę żółwia… i czuła się wręcz wspaniale. Miała wrażenie, że w jakiś sposób jest bezpieczna. Spójrzcie na żółwia, pomyślała. Spójrzcie na żółwia o ogromnej skorupie… Tak to przecież brzmiało, prawda? Może nie trafiła w dziesiątkę, ale w każdym razie blisko. Oczywiście szli do Wieży ścieżką Promienia. Po jednej stronie niedźwiedź – Shardik. Po drugiej stronie żółw – Maturin.
Przeniosła wzrok z maleńkiego totemu, który znalazła w kieszonce torby, na większy, stojący przy fontannie. Oprócz różnicy materiału – ten większy zrobiony był z jakiegoś metalu, tu i ówdzie błyszczał też jasną miedzią – – oba były identyczne aż do najmniejszych szczegółów: zadrapania na grzebiecie i maleńkiego trójkątnego pęknięcia na pysku. Przez chwilę nie mogła oddychać, nawet serce przestało jej bić. Do tej pory to, co się działo z nią i wokół niej, przeżywała jako przygodę po przygodzie, czasami nawet dzień po dniu, nie myśląc, poddając się wydarzeniom i woli tego, co Roland nazywał ka. Lecz czasami zdarzało się coś takiego jak dziś i zza codziennych wydarzeń wyłaniała się idea, fragment całości, oszałamiający swą wielkością i wspaniałością. Dopiero wówczas wyczuwało się działanie sił tak wielkich, że wręcz nie do pojęcia. Niektóre, jak kula w pudełku z widmowego drzewa, były niewątpliwie złe. Ale ta… ta…
– Och! – powiedział ktoś. Nie, nie powiedział. Bardziej przypominało to westchnienie.
Podniosła wzrok. Przed ławką zatrzymał się biznesmen, który, sądząc po garniturze, odniósł niekłamany sukces.
Przechodził przez skwer, zapewne śpiesząc na jakieś spotkanie lub konferencję, sprawy równie ważne jak on sam, odbywające się, być może, aż w gmachu Narodów Zjednoczonych, stojącym niedaleko stąd (chyba że i to się zmieniło). Ale pan biznesmen już się nie śpieszył. W prawej ręce trzymał drogą teczkę. Oczy otworzył szeroko, nie był w stanie oderwać ich od żółwia w dłoni Susannah-Mii. Uśmiechał się szerokim, raczej głupawym uśmiechem.
Schowaj żółwia! – krzyknęła przerażona Mia. Bo go ukradnie.
Niech spróbuje. O niczym innym nie marzę, odparła Detta
Walker spokojnym, nawet rozbawionym głosem. Wyszło słońce i nagle Susannah uświadomiła sobie, duszą, ciałem i umysłem, że dzień jest piękny. Wręcz wspaniały. Wyjątkowy.
– Piękny, wspaniały, wręcz wyjątkowy – powiedział biznesmen (a może raczej dyplomata?), który zdążył już zupełnie zapomnieć o tym, że gdzieś się śpieszył. Czy mówił o dniu, czy może o maleńkim żółwiu?
I o tym, i o tym, pomyślała Susannah. Nagle uświadomiła sobie, że rozumie, o tak, rozumie. Jake też by zrozumiał, nikt nie pojąłby lepiej i szybciej od niego. Roześmiała się. Detta i Mia także się śmiały, choć Mia jakby wbrew własnej woli.
Biznesmen, czy też może dyplomata, także się roześmiał.
– Jasne, o tym i o tym – powiedział. Mówił z lekkim skandynawskim akcentem, „tym” brzmiało trochę jak „dym”. – Ma pani takiego ślicznego żółwia.
Ma bani dakiego źlicznego żółwia.
Rzeczywiście, był śliczny. Prawdziwy mały skarb. A kiedyś, wcale nie tak dawno temu, Jake Chambers znalazł coś zdumiewająco podobnego. W księgarni Calvina Towera kupił książkę Beryl Evans: Charlie Puf-Puf. Dlaczego? Dlatego, że książka go wezwała. Później, tuż przed tym, gdy jego ka-tet przybyło do Calla Bryn Sturgis, nazwisko autorki książki zmieniło się i brzmiało Claudia y Inez Bachman, co uczyniło z niej członka stale rosnącego Ka-Tet Dziewiętnastki. Jake wsunął w tę książkę klucz, a w Świecie Pośrednim Eddie wyrzeźbił jego duplikat. Klucz Jake’a fascynował ludzi, którzy go zobaczyli, a także czynił ich wyjątkowo podatnymi na sugestię. I klucz, i żółw mieli swoje odpowiedniki w innym świecie; przy takim bliźniaku siedziała w tej chwili. Pozostawało jeszcze pytanie:
Czy żółw jest zbliżony do klucza także pod innymi względami?
Biorąc pod uwagę to, jak przyglądał mu się skandynawski biznesmen, Susannah była niemal pewna, że odpowiedź na to pytanie brzmi „tak”. Pomyślała nawet: Tak to tak, i tak nie dorówna, nie martw się dziewczyno, przecież masz żółwia.
Wierszyk był tak głupi, że omal nie wybuchła głośnym śmiechem.
Pozwól, że ja to załatwię, zwróciła się do Mii.
Co załatwisz? Nie rozumiem.
Wiem, że nie rozumiesz. I dlatego to moja sprawa. Zgoda? Nie czekała na odpowiedź. Spojrzała na biznesmena, uśmiechnęła się promiennie i wyciągnęła dłoń tak, by mógł dobrze przyjrzeć się figurce. Kilkakrotnie przesunęła nią w prawo i w lewo, obserwując, jak wodzi za nią wzrokiem, choć jego głowa z imponującą grzywą siwych włosów ani drgnęła.
– Jak się nazywasz, sai? – spytała Susannah.
– Mathiessen van Wyck – odparł mężczyzna. Wciąż wodził spojrzeniem za poruszającą się powoli dłonią. Nie potrafił oderwać wzroku od żółwia. – Jestem drugim asystentem ambasadora Szwecji przy Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych.
Moja żona wzięła sobie kochanka. To wielka przykrość. Kłopoty z żołądkiem; herbatka, którą poleciła mi hotelowa masażystka, dokonała cudów, znów mam regularne wypróżnienia. Sprawia mi to wielką przyjemność. – Mężczyzna przerwał, a potem dodał: – Pani sköldpadda sprawia mi wielką przyjemność.4

– Zajmuję bardzo odpowiedzialne stanowisko. – Mats stał nieruchomo. Cały czas śledził wzrokiem poruszenia trzymającej żółwia dłoni. – Spotykam się z bardzo ważnymi ludźmi. Chodzę na koktajle, na których piękne kobiety noszą krótkie czarne spódniczki…
– To z pewnością bardzo podniecające, Mats. Ale ja pragnę, żebyś zamknął gębę i otwierał ją tylko wówczas, gdy zadaję ci bezpośrednie pytanie. Zrobisz to dla mnie?
Mats natychmiast zamknął gębę, uczynił nawet krótki, komiczny gest, jakby zapinał ekler. Ale patrzył tylko i wyłącznie na żółwia.
– Wspomniałeś o hotelu. Czy mieszkasz w hotelu?
– Tak. Mieszkam w Plaza-Park Hyatt, na rogu Pierwszej i Czterdziestej Szóstej. Wkrótce dostanę luksusowe mieszkanie…
– Mats uświadomił sobie, że znów mówi za wiele. Umilkł natychmiast.
Tymczasem Susannah próbowała coś wymyślić, i to jak najszybciej. Żółwia trzymała na wysokości piersi, żeby jej nowy przyjaciel mógł go sobie oglądać bez przeszkód.5

A może powinienem go zabrać? – powiedział z zastanowieniem. – Może należy się mnie?
Tylko spróbuj, białasie, pomyślała Detta, ale Susannah, która czuła, że przejmuje dowodzenie nad tą swoją niesamowitą trójką, uciszyła ją. Na razie.
– Dlaczego to powiedziałeś, przyjacielu? – spytała. – Powiedz mi, błagam.
Mężczyzna wciąż się jej przyglądał – jego spojrzenie nie zmieniło się ani na jotę. Zdawał się mówić „nie oszukuj oszusta”, przynajmniej Susannah tak to odczytała.
– Mats, Maturin – powiedział. – Maturin, Mats. Teraz rozumiesz?
Zrozumiała. Już miała wyjaśnić mu, że to tylko przypadek, ale powstrzymała się w ostatniej chwili. Calla. Callahan.
– Rozumiem – przyznała. – Ale sköldpadda nie jest twój. Mój też nie, jeśli już o to chodzi.
– W takim razie czyj? – spytał błagalnie Mats. Zabrzmiało to: W takim razie czuj?
Nim świadoma część umysłu zdążyła ją powstrzymać, a przynajmniej ocenzurować jej słowa, Susannah wypowiedziała prawdę, którą poznała jej dusza i serce.
– Żółw jest własnością Wieży, sai. Mrocznej Wieży. I zwrócę go jej, jeśli taka będzie wola ka.
– Niech bogowie będą z tobą, sai.
– I z tobą, Mats. Długich dni i przyjemnych nocy.
Susannah odprowadziła wzrokiem odchodzącego szwedzkiego dyplomatę, a potem spojrzała na maleńkiego kościanego żółwia i stwierdziła szczerze:
– Zdumiewające to za mało powiedziane, Mats, stary przyjacielu.
Mia nie interesowała się żółwiem. Jej umysł absorbowała tylko jedna myśl:
Ten hotel. Czy znajdziemy tam tele… fon?6

– Ależ oczywiście… tak jest, sai. Używa się go zarówno w windzie, jak i do otwierania drzwi do pokoju. Trzeba go włożyć do szczeliny tą stroną, którą wskazuje strzałka. I szybko wyjąć.
Kiedy lampka na drzwiach zaświeci się na zielono, można wyjść. W kasie jest ponad osiem tysięcy dolarów gotówką. Dam ci wszystkie za tę śliczną figurkę, za żółwia, za sköldpadda, za tortuga, za kawit, za…
– Nie – przerwała jej Susannah i znów się zachwiała. Kurczowo chwyciła krawędź recepcyjnej lady. – Idę na górę. – Początkowo miała zamiar wstąpić do hotelowego sklepu i kupić sobie czystą bluzkę, jeśli w ogóle sprzedawali tam bluzki, ale zakupy będą musiały poczekać. Wszystko będzie musiało poczekać.
– Tak jest, sai. – „Proszę pani” znikło, jakby go nigdy nie było.
Żółw działał bezbłędnie. Żółw zacierał granice między światami.
– Nigdy mnie pani nie widziała, dobrze?
– Oczywiście, sai. Czy mam zablokować połączenia telefoniczne?
Mia znów zaczęła hałasować. Susannah nie zwróciła na to najmniejszej uwagi.
– Nie, proszę tego nie robić. Ktoś ma do mnie dzwonić.
– Skoro tego sobie życzysz, sai! – Wzrok utkwiony w żółwiu. Zawsze, zawsze, utkwiony w żółwiu. Przez cały czas. Nieprzerwanie. – Życzę miłego pobytu w Plaza-Park. Czy mam poprosić służbę, by pomogła pani wnieść torby? Czy ja wyglądam na kogoś, komu trzeba pomóc wnieść trzy głupie torby? – pomyślała Detta. Susannah potrząsnęła przecząco głową.
– Doskonale.
Odchodziła już, lecz następne słowa recepcjonistki sprawiły, że stanęła jak wryta.
– Wkrótce przybędzie Król, który patrzy Okiem. Zaskoczyło ją to, niemal wywołało szok. Czuła, jak na jej ramionach pojawia się gęsia skórka. Ale twarz ślicznej recepcjonistki pozostała spokojna. Czarne oczy wpatrzone w kościanego żółwia. Rozchylone wargi, wilgotne już nie tylko od szminki, lecz także od śliny. Jeśli zostanę tu choć chwilę dłużej, pomyślała Susannah, ślina pocieknie jej po brodzie.7

Gdybyś przeszła wzdłuż niego za Wieżę, stałby się Promieniem Maturina, wielkiego żółwia, na którego skorupie spoczywa świat. Istnieje również sześć głównych demonów, po jednym na każdy Promień. Poniżej jest cały wielki, niewidzialny świat istot wyrzuconych na brzeg, kiedy cofał się Prim. Są mówiące demony, demony domów, nazywane przez niektórych duchami, demony chore, które twórcy maszyn i wierni fałszywego boga zwanego rozumem nazywają zarazami.
Jest wiele pomniejszych demonów, ale tylko sześć głównych. Istnieje jednak dwanaście aspektów tych sześciu… dwunastu Strażników. Albowiem każdy z nich jest jednocześnie mężczyzną i kobietą.8

– Wieje wiatr – powiedział.
– Przewiał świat i pognał dalej – dokończył Roland. – Czy to zamierzałeś powiedzieć?
– Ano. I świat wpadłby w otchłań, gdyby nie wielki żółw. Nie wpadł, bo zatrzymał się na jego skorupie.
– Tak nam mówiono, a my mówimy „dzięki”. Zacznij od homarokoszmarów odgryzających mi palce.
– To-to-tak, tak-da-kalce, pieprzone homary odgryzły mi palce. – I King roześmiał się głośno, radośnie.
– Tak.9

– Oczekuj pieśni Żółwia, ryku Niedźwiedzia.
– Pieśni Żółwia, ryku Niedźwiedzia. Maturin z powieści Patricka O’Briana, Shardik z powieści Richarda Adamsa.
– Oczywiście. Skoro tak twierdzisz.
– Strażnicy Promienia.
– Tak.
– Mojego Promienia.
Roland przyglądał mu się z napięciem.
– Tak twierdzisz?
– Ano.
– Niech więc tak będzie. Kiedy usłyszysz pieśń Żółwia, ryk Niedźwiedzia, zaczniesz pisać.
– Gdy otwieram oczy na twój świat, on mnie widzi. – Chwila milczenia. – To mnie widzi.
– Wiem. Spróbujemy cię wówczas ochronić, tak jak chronimy różę.
Stephen King uśmiechnął się promiennie.
– Kocham różę – powiedział po prostu.
– A widziałeś ją? – spytał Eddie.
– Widziałem. Widziałem w Nowym Jorku. Mały kawałek drogi ulicą od hotelu U.N. Plaza. Kiedyś był tam sklep. Delikatesy. Tom i Jerry. W zaułku. Pozostała po nich pusta działka.
– Będziesz opowiadał tę historię, póki się nie zmęczysz – mówił dalej Roland. – A kiedy nie będziesz już w stanie jej opowiadać, kiedy śpiew Żółwia i ryk Niedźwiedzia słabo zabrzmią ci w uszach, wówczas odpoczniesz. Lecz znów je usłyszysz i…
– Rolandzie?
– Sai King?
– Zrobię, co mówisz. Wsłucham się w pieśń Żółwia i kiedy ją usłyszę, dalej będę opowiadał mą opowieść. Jeśli dożyję. Ale ty też musisz słuchać. Musisz słuchać jej pieśni.10

Podniósł kościanego żółwia do oczu, wskazującym palcem przesunął po przypominającej znak zapytania rysie na skorupie.
– Jaki piękny – westchnął. – To Żółw Maturin. Maturin, prawda?
– Nie wiem – przyznał chłopiec. – Prawdopodobnie. Ona nazywa go sköldpadda. Ten żółw może nam pomóc, ale nie zabije bandytów, którzy tam na nas czekają. – Gestem głowy wskazał Dixie Pig. – Tego tylko my możemy dokonać. Jesteś gotów, Pere?
– Och, tak. – Callahan schował żółwia… sköldpadda… do kieszeni na piersiach. – Będę strzelał, póki nie skończą się kule albo póki nie padnę. Jeśli skończą się kule, a ja będę żył, będę walił kolbą.11

18 listopada 1984
Tej nocy miałem sen, który – jak sądzę – przełamie twórczy kryzys z To! Powiedzmy, że istnieje coś w rodzaju Promienia utrzymującego w miejscu Ziemię (albo nawet wiele różnych Ziem?). I że generator Promienia spoczywa na grzbiecie żółwia? Mógłbym umieścić coś takiego w najważniejszym punkcie książki. Wygląda to na pomysł szaleńca, ale czytałem przecież kiedyś, że w mitologii hinduskiej to wielki żółw niesie nas wszystkich na swej skorupie i że służy on Gan, twórczej sile wszechświata. Pamiętam także taki dowcip: „Pewna starsza pani mówi do wybitnego naukowca:
– Cała ta ewolucja materii jest śmieszna. Przecież wszyscy wiedzą, że to żółw podpiera wszechświat. Na to naukowiec (nie pamiętam jego nazwiska, a bardzo bym chciał) odpowiada:
– To oczywiście możliwe, szanowna pani, ale kto podpiera żółwia?
Kobieta śmieje się kpiąco.
– Och, tak łatwo mnie pan nie zaskoczy. Żółwie… aż do samego dołu”.
Ha! Zastanówcie się nad tym, wy wszyscy racjonaliści. W każdym razie trzymam przy łóżku notes, w którym zapisuję sny i elementy snów, nawet nie do końca się z nich budząc. Nad ranem zapisałem: „Pamiętaj o Żółwiu!”, i jeszcze to: „Spójrzcie na żółwia o ogromnej skorupie! Co na swych plecach całą Ziemię niesie. Choć myśli wolno, lecz zawsze rozważnie i każdego z nas swym umysłem sięgnie”. Nie jest to wielka poezja, przyznaję, ale i tak nieźle jak na faceta, który ocknął się najwyżej w jednej czwartej. Tabby napadła na mnie, ponieważ znów za dużo piję. Chyba ma rację, ale…12

1. ”We’re on the Path of the Bear, Way of the Turtle,” Eddie said absently.
”I don’t know why it would ever matter, since the Tower’s as far as we’re going, but on the other side it’s the Path of the Turtle, Way of the Bear.” And he recited:
”See the TURTLE of enormous girth!
On his shell he holds the earth,
His thought is slow but always kind;
He holds us all within his mind.”
At this point, Rosalita took up the verse
”On his back the truth is carried,
And there are love and duty married.
He loves the earth and loves the sea,
And even loves a child like me. ”
”Not quite the way I learned it in my cradle and taught it to my friends,” Roland said, ”but close enough, by watch and by warrant.”
”The Great Turtle’s name is Maturin,” Jake said, and shrugged. ”If it matters.”


2. In it was a fountain; nearby was a metal sculpture of a turtle, its shell gleaming wetly in the fountain’s spray. She cared nothing for fountains or sculptures, but there was also a bench. WALK had come around again. Trudy tottered across Second Avenue, like a woman of eighty-three instead of thirty-eight, and sat down. She began to take long, slow breaths, and after three minutes or so felt a little better.
Beside the bench was a trash receptacle with KEEP LITTER IN ITS PLACE stenciled on the side. Below this, in pink spray-paint, was an odd little graffito: See the TURTLE of enormous girth. Trudy saw the turtle, but didn’t think much of its girth; the sculpture was quite modest. She saw something else, as well: a copy of the New York Times, rolled up as she always rolled hers, if she wanted to keep it a little longer and happened to have a bag to stow it in. Of course there were probably at least a million copies of that day’s Times floating around Manhattan, but this one was hers.
She knew it even before fishing it out of the litter basket and verifying what she knew by turning to the crossword, which she’d mostly completed over lunch, in her distinctive lilac-colored ink.
She returned it to the litter basket and looked across Second Avenue to the place where her idea of how things worked had changed. Maybe forever.
Took my shoes. Crossed the street and sat here by the turtle and put them on. Kept my bag but dumped the Times. Why’d she want my bag? She didn’t have any shoes of her own to put in it.


3. On the far side was a bench beside a fountain and a metal sculpture. Seeing the turtle comforted Susannah a little; it was as if Roland had left her this sign, what the gunslinger himself would have called a sigul.


4. She reached in and brought out not a stone but a small scrimshaw turtle. Made of ivory, from the look of it. Each detail of the shell was tiny and precisely executed, although it had been marred by one tiny scratch that looked almost like a question-mark. The turtle’s head poked halfway out. Its eyes were tiny black dots of some tarry stuff, and looked incredibly alive. She saw another small imperfection in the turtle’s beak — not a scratch but a crack.
”It’s old,” she whispered aloud. ”So old.”
Yes, Mia whispered back.
Holding it made Susannah feel incredibly good. It made her feel safe, somehow.
See the Turtle, she thought. See the Turtle of enormous girth, on his shell he holds the earth. Was that how it went? She thought it was at least close. And of course that was the Beam they had been following to the Tower. The Bear at one end — Shardik. The Turtle at the other — Maturin.
She looked from the tiny totem she’d found in the lining of the bag to the one beside the fountain. Barring the difference in materials — the one beside her bench was made of dark metal with brighter coppery glints — they were exactly the same, right down to the scratch on the shell and the tiny wedge-shaped break in the beak. For a moment her breath stopped, and her heart seemed to stop, also. She went along from moment to moment through this adventure — sometimes even from day to day — without thinking much but simply driven by events and what Roland insisted was ka. Then something like this would happen, and she would for a moment glimpse a far bigger picture, one that immobilized her with awe and wonder. She sensed forces beyond her ability to comprehend. Some, like the ball in the ghostwood box, were evil. But this . . . this . . .
”Wow,” someone said. Almost sighed.
She looked up and saw a businessman — a very successful one, from the look of his suit — standing there by the bench. He’d been cutting through the park, probably on his way to someplace as important as he was, some sort of meeting or a conference, maybe even at the United Nations, which was close by (unless that had changed, too). Now, however, he had come to a dead stop. His expensive briefcase dangled from his right hand.
His eyes were large and fixed on the turtle in Susannah-Mia’s hand. On his face was a large and rather dopey grin. Put it away!’ Mia cried, alarmed. He’ll steal it! Like to see him try, Detta Walker replied. Her voice was relaxed and rather amused. The sun was out and she — all parts of she — suddenly realized that, all else aside, this day was beautiful. And precious. And gorgeous.
”Precious and beautiful and gorgeous,” said the businessman (or perhaps he was a diplomat), who had forgotten all about his business. Was it the day he was talking about, or the scrimshaw turtle? It’s both, Susannah thought. And suddenly she thought she understood this. Jake would have understood, too — no one better! She laughed. Inside her, Detta and Mia also laughed, Mia a bit against her will. And the businessman or diplomat, he laughed, too.
”Yah, it’s both,” the businessman said. In his faint Scandinavian accent, both came out boad. ”What a lovely thing you have!” Whad a loffly thing! Yes, it was lovely. A lovely little treasure. And once upon a time, not so long ago, Jake Chambers had found something queerly similar. In CalvinTower’s bookshop, Jake had bought a book called Charlie the Choo- Choo, by Beryl Evans. Why? Because it had called to him. Later — shortly before Roland’s ka-tet had come to Calla Bryn Sturgis, in fact — the author’s name had changed to Claudia y Inez Bachman, making her a member of the ever-expanding Ka-Tet of Nineteen. Jake had slipped a key into that book, and Eddie had whittled a double of it in Mid-World. Jake’s version of the key had both fascinated the folks who saw it and made them extremely suggestible. Like Jake’s key, the scrimshaw turtle had its double; she was sitting beside it. The question was if the turtle was like Jake’s key in other ways.
Judging from the fascinated way the Scandinavian businessman was looking at it, Susannah was pretty sure the answer was yes. She thought, Dad-a-chuck, dad-a-churtle, don’t worry, girl, you got the turtle! It was such a silly rhyme she almost laughed out loud. To Mia she said, Let me handle this.
Handle what? I don’t understand —
I know you don’t. So let me handle it. Agreed?
She didn’t wait for Mia’s reply. She turned back to the businessman, smiling brightly, holding the turtle up where he could see it. She floated it from right to left and noted the way his eyes followed it, although his head, with its impressive mane of white hair, never moved.
”What’s your name, sai?” Susannah asked.
”Mathiessen van Wyck,” he said. His eyes rolled slowly in their sockets, watching the turtle. ”I am second assistant to the Swedish Ambassador to the United Nations. My wife has taken a lover. This makes me sad. My bowels are regular once again, the tea the hotel masseuse recommended worked for me, and this makes me happy.” A pause. Then: 'Your skölpadda makes me happy.”


5. ”I have quite an important position,” Mats said. His eyes never left the turtle. ”I am meeting many important peoples. I am going to cocktail parties where good-looking women are wearing 'the little black dress.’ ”
”That must be quite a thrill for you. Mats, I want you to shut your trap and only open it to speak when I ask you a direct question. Will you do that?”
Mats closed his mouth. He even made a comical little zipping gesture across his lips, but his eyes never left the turtle.
”You mentioned a hotel. Do you stay at a hotel?”
”Yah, I am staying at the New York Plaza-Park Hyatt, at the corner of First and Forty-sixth. Soon I am getting the condominium apartment — ”
Mats seemed to realize he was saying too much again and shut his mouth.
Susannah thought furiously, holding the turtle in front of her breasts where her new friend could see it very well.


6. He started away, then paused and looked back at her. Although his cheeks were wet, his expression was pixie-ish, a trifle sly. ”Perhaps I should take it,” he said. ”Perhaps it is mine by right.”
Like to see you try, honky was Detta’s thought, but Susannah — who felt more and more in charge of this wacky triad, at least for the time being — shushed her. ”Why would you say that, my friend? Tell, I beg.”
The sly look remained. Don’t kid a kidder, it said. That was what it looked like to Susannah, anyway. ”Mats, Maturin,” he said. ”Maturin, Mats. You see?”
Susannah did. She started to tell him it was just a coincidence and then thought: Calla, Callahan.
”I see,” she said, ”but the skölpadda isn’t yours. Nor mine, either.”
”Then whose?” Plaintive. Den hoose? it sounded like. And before her conscious mind could stop her (or at least censor her), Susannah spoke the truth her heart and soul knew: ”It belongs to the Tower, sai. The DarkTower. And it’s to there I’ll return it, ka willing.”
”Gods be with you, lady-sai.”
”And you, Mats. Long days and pleasant nights.”
She watched the Swedish diplomat walk away, then looked down at the scrimshaw turtle and said, ”That was pretty amazing, Mats old buddy.”
Mia had no interest in the turtle; she had but a single object. This hotel, she said. Will there be a telephone?


7. ”Why — yes, sai. You use it in the elevator as well as to open your room. Just push it into the slot in the direction the arrows point. Remove it briskly. When the light on the door turns green, you may enter. I have slightly over eight thousand dollars in my cash drawer. I’ll give it all to you for your pretty thing, your turtle, your skölpadda, your tortuga, your kavvit, your — ”
”No,” Susannah said, and staggered again. She clutched the edge of the desk. Her equilibrium was shot. ”I’m going upstairs now.” She’d meant to visit the gift shop first and spend some of Mats’s dough on a clean shirt, if they carried such things, but that would have to wait. Everything would have to wait.
”Yes, sai.” No more ma’am, not now. The turtle was working on her. Sanding away the gap between the worlds.
”You just forget you saw me, all right?”
”Yes, sai. Shall I put a do-not-disturb on the phone?”
Mia clamored. Susannah didn’t even bother paying attention. ”No, don’t do that. I’m expecting a call.”
”As you like, sai.” Eyes on the turtle. Ever on the turtle. ”Enjoy the Plaza-Park. Would you like a bellman to assist you with your bags?”
Look like I need help with these three pukey li’l things? Detta thought, but Susannah only shook her head.
”Very well.”
Susannah started to turn away, but the desk clerk’s next words swung her back in a hurry.
”Soon comes the King, he of the Eye.”
Susannah gaped at the woman, her surprise close to shock. She felt gooseflesh crawling up her arms. The desk clerk’s beautiful face, meanwhile, remained placid. Dark eyes on the scrimshaw turtle. Lips parted, now damp with spittle as well as gloss. If I stay here much longer, Susannah thought, she’ll start to drool.


8. ”There are six Beams, as you did say, but there are twelve Guardians, one for each end of each Beam. This — for we’re still on it — is the Beam of Shardik. Were you to go beyond the Tower, it would become the Beam of Maturin, the great turtle upon whose shell the world rests.
”Similarly, there are but six demon elementals, one for each Beam. Below them is the whole invisible world, those creatures left behind on the beach of existence when the Prim receded. There are speaking demons, demons of house which some call ghosts, ill-sick demons which some — makers of machines and worshippers of the great false god rationality, if it does ya — call disease. Many small demons but only six demon elementals. Yet as there are twelve Guardians for the six Beams, there are twelve demon aspects, for each demon elemental is both male and female.”


9. King smiled a little and made a gentle wissshhhing sound. ”The wind blows,” said he.
”Gan bore the world and moved on,” Roland replied. ”Is that what you mean to say?”
”Aye, and the world would have fallen into the abyss if not for the great turtle. Instead of falling, it landed on his back.”
”So we’re told, and we all say thank ya. Start with the lobstrosities biting off my fingers.”
”Dad-a-jum, dad-ajingers, goddam lobsters bit off your fingers,” King said, and actually laughed.
”Yes.”


10. Roland said, ”Listen for the song of the Turtle, the cry of the Bear.”
”Song of Turtle, cry of Bear. Maturin from the Patrick O’Brian novels. Shardik from the Richard Adams novel.”
”Yes. If you say so.”
”Guardians of the Beam.”
”Yes.”
”Of my Beam.”
Roland looked at him fixedly. ”Do you say so?”
”Yes.”
”Then let it be so. When you hear the song of the Turtle or the cry of the Bear, then you must start again.”
”When I open my eye to your world, he sees me.” A pause. ”It.”
”I know. We’ll try to protect you at those times, just as we intend to protect the rose.”
King smiled. ”I love the rose.”
”Have you seen it?” Eddie asked.
”Indeed I have, in New York. Up the street from the U.N. Plaza Hotel.
It used to be in the deli. Tom and Jerry’s. In the back. Now it’s in the vacant lot where the deli was.”
”You’ll tell our story until you’re tired,” Roland said. ”When you can’t tell any more, when the Turtle’s song and the Bear’s cry grow faint in your ears, then will you rest. And when you can begin again, you will begin again. You — ”
”Roland?”
”Sai King?”
”I’ll do as you say. I’ll listen for the song of the Turtle and each time I hear it, I’ll go on with the tale. If 1 live. But you must listen, too. For her song.”


11. He held the scrimshaw turtle up to his face and ran the pad of his index finger over the question-mark-shaped scratch on its shell. Looked into its wise and peaceful eyes. ”How lovely it is,” he breathed. ”Is it the Turtle Maturin? It is, isn’t it?”
”I don’t know,” Jake said. ”Probably. She calls it the skölpadda, and it may help us, but it can’t kill the harriers that are waiting for us in there.” He nodded toward the Dixie Pig. ”Only we can do that, Pere. Will you?”
”Oh yes,” Callahan said calmly. He put the turtle, the skölpadda, into his breast pocket. ”I’ll shoot until the bullets are gone or I’m dead. If I run out of bullets before they kill me, I’ll club them with the gun-butt.”


12. November 18th, 1984
I had a dream last night that I think breaks the creative logjam on It. Suppose there’s a kind of Beam holding the Earth (or even multiple Earths) in place? And that the Beam’s generator rests on the shell of a turtle? I could make that part of the book’s climax. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m sure I read somewhere that in Hindu mythology there’s a great turtle that bears us all on his shell, and that he serves Gan, the creative overforce. Also, I remember an anecdote where some lady sez to some famous scientist, ”This evolution stuff is ridiculous. Everyone knows that a turtle holds up the universe.” To which the scientist (wish I could remember his name, but I can’t) replies, ”That may be, madam, but what holds up the turtle?” Scornful laugh from the lady, who says, ”Oh, you can’t fool me! It’s turtles all the way down.”
Ha! Take that, ye rational men of science!
Anyway, I keep a blank book by my bed, and have gotten so I write down a lot of dreams and dream elements w/o even fully waking up. This morning I’d written Remember the Turtle! And this: See the TURTLE of enormous girth! On his shell he holds the earth. His thought is slow but always kind; he holds us all within his mind. Not great poetry, I grant you, but not bad for a guy who was three-quarters asleep when he wrote it! Tabby has been on my case about drinking too much again. I suppose she’s right, but . . .


Autor: XYuriTT

Kongres futurologiczny

Tytuł: Kongres futurologiczny
Autor(zy): Stanisław Lem
Rok wydania: 1974 (ENG), 1971 (PL)
Wydawnictwo: Seabury Press (ENG), Wydawnictwo Literackie (PL)

Dlaczego w bazie: Żółw pojawia się w tym tekście w formie jednej wzmianki słownej, podany jest jako przykład zwierzecia w które można się w swoim wyobrażeniu „zmienić” dzięki zooforminom.

Pewno pan wie, że dzięki zooforminom można się czasowo stać, to jest czuć się, żółwiem, mrówką, bożą krówką, a nawet jaśminem przy pomocy prebotynidu infloryzującego, oczywiście tylko subiektywnie.

Źródło: Mossar, Opracował: XYuriTT

Cyberiada

Tytuł: Cyberiada
Autor(zy): Stanisław Lem
Rok wydania: 1974 (ENG), 1965 (PL)
Wydawnictwo: Harcourt Brace (ENG), Wydawnictwo Literackie (PL)

Dlaczego w bazie: Żółw pojawia się w tym zbiorze opowiadań w jednym tekście, jako porównanie w wierszu.

Trurl miotał się tu i tam, raptem coś trzasło, prasło i maszyna bardzo rzeczowo, spokojnie, oświadczyła:
Zawiść, pycha, egoizm do małości zmusza.
Doświadczy tego, pragnąc iść z Elektrybałtem
W zawody, pewien prostak. Ale Klapaucjusza
Olbrzym ducha prześcignie, niby żółwia autem.

Źródło: Ponda, Opracował: XYuriTT

Stories of Jedi and Sith

Tytuł: Stories of Jedi and Sith
Autor(zy): Różni
Rok wydania: 2022
Wydawnictwo: Disney–Lucasfilm Press

Dlaczego w bazie: Żółwi element pojawia się w jednym z opowiadań z tego zbioru, konkretnie to w „What a Jedi Makes” (autor: Michael Kogge) gdzie pojawia się przedstawiciel rasy Kadrillian, która to jest żółwią rasą, co jest w tekście jednoznacznie stwierdzone.

“Hey, Padawan,” chirped the pilot inside, an orange-scaled Kadrillian in a police uniform that accommodated his terrapin half shell.

Źródło: Mossar, Opracował: XYuriTT

Mapy – Obrazkowa podróż po lądach, morzach i kulturach świata

Tytuł: Mapy – Obrazkowa podróż po lądach, morzach i kulturach świata
Autor(zy): Aleksandra i Daniel Mizielińscy
Rok wydania: 2012
Wydawnictwo: Dwie Siostry

Dlaczego w bazie: Książka z niewielką ilością tekstu, jej główna zawartość to mapy rozmaitych miejsc. Na tychże mapach znaleźć można bardzo wiele rozmaitych żółwi, które pokazujemy poniżej.

Źródło: Mossar, Opracował: XYuriTT

Young Jedi Knights: Trouble on Cloud City

Tytuł: Young Jedi Knights: Trouble on Cloud City
Autor(zy): Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta
Rok wydania: 1998
Wydawnictwo: Berkley Boulevard

Dlaczego w bazie: Żółw pojawia się w tej książce w formie pojedyńczej wzmianki o fioletowym żółwiu.

Outside, sitting on a rock, a violet puffer turtle swelled its bladders, straining the limits of its shell’s flexibility, and then exhaled on a low bassoon note. Heavy beetles crawled up trees and clicked their rear legs together in a rattling rhythm.

Autor: XYuriTT

Skok millenium

Tytuł: Skok millenium
Tytuł oryginału: Scoundrels
Autor(zy): Timothy Zahn
Tłumaczenie: Anna Hikiert
Rok wydania: 2013 (ENG), 2013 (PL)
Wydawnictwo: Del Rey (ENG), Amber (PL)

Dlaczego w bazie: Typowo, w polskich wydaniach tłumacze często dodają żółwie w miejsca gdzie w oryginale ich nie było. W tym przypadku jest jednak odwrotnie, angielski fragment z żółwim nawiązaniem został przez tłumacza przełożony bezżółwio.

Nie miał pojęcia, ile czasu zajmie ochronie i Falleenowi w środku otrząśnięcie się po tym podwójnym wstrząsie, ale też nie miał zamiaru zostawać tu na tyle długo, żeby się o tym przekonać. Poderwał się na nogi, przypadł do przewróconego na dach pojazdu, wcisnął kontrolkę zamka i szarpnięciem otworzył drzwi.1


1. He had no idea how long it would take the men and Falleen inside to recover from that double punch. He also had no intention of hanging around long enough to find out. Jumping up from his crouch, he ran to the turtled vehicle, keyed the lock control, and pulled open the door.


Autor: XYuriTT