The word metaphor comes from a Greek word meaning ‘transfer’. Metaphors compare two things or ideas: a quality or feature of one thing is transferred to another thing. Some common metaphors are
• the leg of the table: The leg supports our body. So the object that supports a table is described as a leg.
• the heart of the city: The heart is an important organ in the centre of our body. So this word is used to describe the central area of a city.

In pairs, find metaphors from the story to complete the table below. Try to say what qualities are being compared. One has been done for you.

Object	Metaphor	Quality or feature compared
Cloud	Huge mountains of clouds	The mass or ‘hugeness’ of mountains
Raindrops
Hailstones
Locusts
		An epidemic (a disease) that spreads very rapidly and leaves many people dead
	An ox of a man