The present article is intended as a contribution towards filling the gap between metaphor research and translation research. It takes as its starting point a phenomenon, which has often been observed in translation research, namely metaphor phobia. The article departs from the traditional focus of translation of metaphors which has primarily been descriptive and normative. It attempts to reassert a place for the translator and the process of translation by claiming that translators cannot have a macro-strategy in Hönig’s sense for translating metaphors since they lack sufficient knowledge of the phenomenon. The article seeks to illuminate what knowledge is required for such a macro-strategy by focusing primarily on source language comprehension. Thus, when reference is made to the translation of metaphors, focus is on the reception phase of the translation process, which constitutes only the first step on the long way towards building a translation.