Question

Meaning of flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air, so black

Answer 1

This means the snake took out his tongue out of its mouth many times. 'Forked night' refers to the black colour tongue of the snake. Snakes and many types of lizards take their forked tongues out many times to sense possible danger in their surroundings.

Answer 2

Night is a metaphor for the tongue of the snake.It depicts that the snake s tongue was as black as night. Forked refers to the shape of the tongue. Therefore,forked night on the air refers to theforked tongue of the snake in the air which was so black as night.