Five years ago, The Elephant’s Journey by Portuguese Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, appeared. It told of the Indian beast’s overland travels from Lisbon to Vienna, centre of the Habsburg empire in the sixteenth century. Now we have The Architect’s Apprentice  by Turkey’s foremost woman novelist, Elif Shafak, telling of Chota, a baby white elephant that travels from Hindustan to Istanbul, centre of that other empire then convulsing Europe, the Ottoman.The relationship between man and beast is at the emotional heart of both novels. To mahout Jahan, beloved Chota is a delicate individual whose sensitivities extend well beyond the mere five senses. Yet to others, Chota is there to be exploited as an emblem or trophy, a warrior or trickster. Obliged to pe