Una beffa suicida alla censura: il Mâhi-ye siyâh-e kuchulu di Samad Behrangi

After a concise sketch of the main socio-political events in Iran under the second Pahlavi-King, a brief survey is given of the folktale rooted literary short stories. A feature is mostly underlined, i.e. the rhetorical tools used by the engagés authors to safeguard their creative freedom against the hash censorship of the Pahlavi regime. Behrangi’s literary works clearly exemplify such use of symbolism and allegory. In this article the first Italian translation of the Behrangi’s most famous story, Mâhi-ye siyâh-e kučulu, is also given. The translation is followed by a short analysis devoted to highlight Behrangi’s skill in inserting actual social themes into a traditional and popular fiction frame.