The ground did not just shake; it groaned. Under the relentless sun of an ordinary afternoon, the rhythmic thud of massive, gray-skinned pillars vibrated through the soles of those standing in the market. The people looked up from their trading and their marriages just long enough to see the elephants passing by.   Great tusks caught the light, and ears fanned the humid air like sails, yet the people simply stepped aside to let the beasts pass toward that wooden ship on the hill. It wa...