Qisey Giranba: A Sôranî Folktale from Mukrî Kurdistan

"Qisey Giranba" (The Valuable Remark) is one of the most well-known folktales in present-day Mukrî Kurdistan, a stateless nation in northwestern Iran. Unlike northern and southern Kurdistan—where folktales are appreciated in written form—literature in Mukrî Kurdistan is most popularly appreciated in its oral form and has not been widely published. "Qisey Giranba" is a hekayet largely transmitted orally in the region by elder beyt singers, but a total of three incomplete manuscripts of the tale exist in personal libraries of Mukrî Kurds and a Persian version of the text has been published in Tehran. This article presents a complete transcription from a recorded performance by an old singer in the region and translated into English in a style that remains as close as possible to the original performance. The article presents the tale as an example of the Mukrî Sôranî dialect and places the tale within the context of the region's contemporary culture as an example of central Kurdish literature.