concept
salto mortale
also: сальто мортале
Italian/Latin-derived circus term for a "mortal leap" -- a somersault, especially performed without a net -- used figuratively by Likharev for life's sudden, vertiginous reversals of fortune; Chekhov supplies his own in-text footnote gloss ("смертельные прыжки (лат.)").
Reading notes
- On the Road §37 salto mortale
Italian/Latin-derived circus term for a "mortal leap" -- a somersault, especially one performed without a net -- used figuratively by Likharev for life's sudden, vertiginous reversals of fortune. Chekhov supplies his own footnote gloss in the original ("смертельные прыжки (лат.)"), preserved in translation.