CENTURIA IV · QUATRAIN XLVIII
The Locust Swarm
Planure Ausonne fertile, spacieuse,
Produira taons si tant de sauterelles:
Clarte solaire deviendra nubileuse,
Rouger le tout, grand peste venir d'elles.
The Ausonian plain, fertile, spacious,
Will breed gadflies, so many locusts:
The solar light will grow overcast,
All reddening, a great plague to come from them.
THE MASTER SAYS…
This event takes place in times of unrest. The name Ausonia is used symbolically to designate an underground partisan movement from rural areas. At first and for quite a long time they will not have decisive victories over the enemy, but they will harass like swarms of mosquitoes or gnats buzzing around. They will manage to distract the enemy enough to allow the fighters to win some victories. “They will obscure the light of the sun” — this refers to local aircraft, crop dusters, which they use to carry out one of their malicious machinations. “They will eat everything around, and with them will come a great plague”: whenever they think the enemy is advancing in their direction, they will harvest and hide all the food. Thus, the enemy will not be able to use agricultural products as he would like. If they fail to harvest and hide the products, they will burn them, depending on what their conditions are. This is the “scorched earth” policy. Translators believe that Ausonia means Naples. No. This refers to the vast plains of Ausonia. He uses this name as a symbol of the rural lands through which you pass when traveling from city to city. They believe that he means a real invasion of locusts or grasshoppers. No, this is simply a symbol of an underground destructive movement.