Note 83 — Chapter V · (continued 2)

Note 83. "El-Feshshár" signifies "the Foolish Talker," or "Vain Boaster." I have substituted this name for "El-'Ashshár," the reading in my original. In the Arabic characters, the latter differs from the former in little more than the want of a point, and has no appropriate meaning. It appears that, in most copies of the original, the barber's Fifth Brother is surnamed "En-Neshshár," or "the Sawyer," perhaps in allusion to his incessant loquacity: but this, also, in the Arabic characters, very nearly resembles "El-Feshshár," which I doubt not to be the right name.