e before his house in
Anjou, but in the midst of it were the cottage and garden of a peasant;
and neither Charnace, nor his father before him, could prevail upon him
to remove, although they offered him large sums. Charnace at last
determined to gain his point by stratagem. The peasant was a tailor,
and lived all alone, without wife or child. One day Charnace sent for
him, said he wanted a Court suit in all haste, and, agreeing to lodge and
feed him, stipulated that he should not leave the house until it was
done. The tailor agreed, and set himself to the work. While he was thus
occupied, Charnace had the dimensions of his house and garden taken with
the utmost exactitude; made a plan of the interior, showing the precise
position of the furniture and the utensils; and, when all was done,
pulled down the house and removed it a short distance off.

Then it was arranged as before with a similar looking garden, and at the
same time the spot on which it had previously stood was smoothed and
levelled. All this was done before the suit was finished. The work
being at length over on both sides, Charnace amused the tailor until it
was quite dark, paid him, and dismissed him content. The man went on his
way down the avenue; but, finding the distance longer than usual, looked
about, and perceived he had gone too far. Returning, he searched
diligently for his house, but without being able to find it. The night
passed in this exercise. When the day came, he rubbed his eyes, thinking
they might have been in fault; but as he found them as clear as usual,
began to believe that the devil had carried away his house, garden and
all. By dint of wandering to and fro, and casting his eyes in every
direction, he saw at last a house which was as like to his as are two
drops of water to each other. Curiosity tempted him to go and examine
it. He did so, and became convinced it was his own. He entered, found
everything inside as he had left it, and then became quite persuaded he
had been tricked by a sorcerer. The day was not, however, very far
advanced before he learned the truth through the banter of his
neighbours. In fury he talked of going to law, or demanding justice, but
was laughed at everywhere. The King when he heard of it laughed also;
and Charnace had his avenue free. If he had never done anything worse
than this, he would have preserved his reputation and his liberty.

A strange scene happened at Meudon after suppe