That the story is an allegory, and that it, as well as that of Saktideva, Hercules and the rest, are simply different versions of the same myth, the significance of which is the alternate swallowing up and casting forth of _Day_, or the _Sun_, by _Night_, is now all but universally admitted by scholars. The _Day_, or the _Sun_, is swallowed up by _Night_, to be set free again at dawn, and from time to time suffers a like but shorter durance in the maw of the eclipse and the storm-cloud.[79:5] Professor Goldzhier says: "The most prominent mythical characteristic of the story of Jonah is his celebrated abode in the sea in the belly of a whale. This trait is eminently _Solar_. . . . As on occasion of the storm the storm-dragon or the storm-serpent _swallows the Sun_, so when he sets, he (Jonah, as a personification of the Sun) is swallowed by a mighty fish, waiting for him at the bottom of the sea. Then, when he appears again on the horizon, he is _spit out on the shore_ by the sea-monster."[80:1] The _Sun_ was called Jona, as appears from Gruter's inscriptions, and other sources.[80:2] In the _Vedas_--the four sacred books of the Hindoos--when _Day_ and _Night_, _Sun_ and _Darkness_, are opposed to each other, the one is designated _Red_, the other _Black_.[80:3] The _Red Sun_ being swallowed up by the _Dark Earth_ at _Night_--as it apparently is when it sets in the west--to be cast forth again at _Day_, is also illustrated in like manner. Jonah, Hercules and others personify the _Sun_, and a huge _Fish_ represents the _Earth_.[80:4] _The Earth represented as a huge Fish is one of the most prominent ideas of the Polynesian mythology._[80:5] At other times, instead of a _Fish_, we have a great raving _Wolf_, who comes to devour its victim and extinguish the _Sun_-light.[80:6] The Wolf is particularly distinguished in ancient _Scandinavian_ mythology, being employed as an emblem of the _Destroying Power_, which attempts to destroy the _Sun_.[80:7] This is illustrated in the story of Little _Red_ Riding-Hood (the Sun)[80:8] who is devoured by the great _Black Wolf_ (Night) and afterwards _comes out unhurt_.[80:9] The story of Little Red Riding-Hood _is mutilated in the English version_. The original story was that the little maid, in her _shining Red Cloak_, was swallowed by the great _Black Wolf_, and that _she came out safe and sound_ when the hunters cut open the sleeping beast.[80:10] In regard to these heroes remaining _three days and three nights_ in the bowels of the Fish, _they represent the Sun at the Winter Solstice_. From December 22d to the 25th--that is, _for three days and three nights_--the _Sun_ remains in the _Lowest Regions_, in the bowels of the Earth, in the belly of the Fish; it is then cast forth and renews its career.