Scream! Shout! Make as much noise as you can! The dragon is eating the sun!
What? Yes, that was what the ancinet chinese believed when there was and eclipse of the sun. An eclipse of the sun happens when the moon passes betwen the earth and the sun. This means that the sun will be totally blocked so there is darknes on that part of earth. The chinese believed that if everyone made a lot of noise, the dragon would be frightened into leaving the sun alone.
The people who lived long ago knew very litle about science and mathematics. They only knew about things that happened in the part of the world that they lived. So when they looked up at the sky and saw the sun slowly disappearing, they thought that the dragon was swallowing the sun.
