The Ignorant Suppose Metaphors to Be Fact
If figures of speech fall from the hand of knowledge to that of ignorance, they are transformed into fact, opening the door to superstition.
When small I saw an eclipse of the moon. I asked my mother, and she said: “A snake has swallowed it.” I asked her: “Why is it visible, then?”
She said: “The snakes there are semi‑transparent.” She took a metaphor literally.
At a divine command, on the earth interposing between “the head” and “the tail”, which are the points of intersection of the moon and circuit of the sun, the moon is eclipsed.
The two hypothetical arcs were called “Tinnin”, it was named with a fanciful simile. Tinnin means the Serpent.