Numskull sticks his head into the hole of a millstone. It rolls into the lake

Motif

Numskull sticks his head into the hole of a millstone. It rolls into the lake.

The wise and the foolish. · Fools (and other unwise persons). · Absurd short-sightedness. · Foolish disregard of personal danger. · view the constellation · filed as J2131.5.4

Cited in the index

general *Type 1247.

Within the index

Filed under Numskull gets his head caught. (Cf. J2136.6.)

Filed beside it

Trickster puts on buffalo skull: gets head caught Numskull licks out pot: gets it caught on his head Numskull sticks his head in the branches of a tree Wolf trying to catch tongue of camel puts head in camel's mouth: killed Jackal's head caught in pot of blue dye. Animals make him king, but detect him from his cry and turn him out Fox trying to drown jug. Sticks his head into it and gets drowned himself

Carried in tale types

The Man Sticks his Head into the Hole of the Millstone · ATU 1247 1 recorded variant

ask the rhapsode about this motif · search the shelf for “millstone” · wander