CENTURIA IX · QUATRAIN V
The Third Toe
Tiers doit du pied au premier semblera,
A un nouveau monarque de bas hault,
Qui Pise & Lucques Tyran occupera:
Du precedant corriger le deffaut.
A third digit of the foot shall seem like the first
to a new monarch from base to high,
who as tyrant shall occupy Pisa and Lucca:
to correct the defect of the predecessor.
THE MASTER SAYS…
Brenda said: “He said that in fact this is an incorrect translation. He meant ‘digit,’ not specifically a toe or finger, but simply a smaller subdivision of something. He asks you to read it again, but use ‘digit’ instead of ‘finger.’ He says that, honestly, on a quick reading he knew the translation, but wanted to correct this one line before explaining the meaning. He says that the reason for the error was undoubtedly that the word he used had a less known or slang meaning of ‘subdivision,’ and the literal translation ‘digit’ in his time was exactly that. He says that in all languages there are words with a double meaning. These were the meanings used in his time, so it would have been clearer to a reader of that time. Because he would have realized this alternative way of perceiving the word and, consequently, would have been able to look at the quatrain differently. He says that it relates to the period of Mussolini’s rule in Italy and to the rise and fall of his power. He says that he is not surprised. Considering how they translated it, it is unknown what they came up with. He says that, in his assumption, their translation was: ‘Guess what? The Pope has fuzz under his toenails.'”