external text
O tempora, o mores!
o tempora, o mores
also: о времена, о нравы!
The stock Latin exclamation ("oh, the times, oh, the manners!"), most famous from Cicero's First Catilinarian, dropped into the narration with mock-erudite irony at the height of a farcical boating accident.
Reading notes
- If You Chase Two Hares, You Won't Catch Either §31 o tempora, o mores
A stock Latin tag ("oh, the times, oh, the manners!"), most famously from Cicero's First Catilinarian; Chekhov drops it in with mock-erudite irony at the height of the farcical capsizing.