Polichinelle and Pierrot rob a vegetable garden every night. The gardener sets up scarecrows. At first, the thieves tremble with fear and give up their loot before they discover the trickery. Then they put on the scarecrows' clothes to scare and hit the Gardener. The Gardener runs away, but he has recognised Pierrot and Polichinelle. He returns disguised as a ghost, but Pierrot and Polichinelle are not fooled and hit him again. When the Gardener wants to prevent Polichinelle from escaping, Polichinelle plants him in a pot with Pierrot's help. The wife frees her husband. They both fill a melon with powder and a wick. Pierrot and Polichinelle, mistaking the wick for a cigar, light it. The explosion sends Polichinelle and Pierrot flying out of the garden, but causes the house to collapse on the Gardener and his wife.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Printed

Garden

Theft

Vegetables

Scarecrow

Phantom

Fear

Hoax

Rake

Firecracker

Blast

Melon

Trap

Farcical

French

Gardener

Polichinelle

Pierrot

Gardener (woman)

Hidden character

Misunderstanding

Disguise

Plot twist

Blow-with-a-stick

Pyrotechnics

Explosion

Collapse of the set

Le Revenant

The Ghost

Madelon is angry with her husband Guignol. Because of his laziness, the garden has turned into a jungle, the harvest has been pitiful, and they have no food to feed the children. Gnafron promises that he will speak with Guignol. He tries to convince his friend to at least repair the spade, but Guignol thinks only of napping and eating. Gnafron then tells him about the magician he has just met. The magician promises Guignol a bountiful harvest, which will require no efforts as he will use herbicides. Guignol is skeptical, but the magician uses hypnosis on him and Gnafron. Now that he is free to act as he pleases, the magician summons his master – the Devil. With the help of his imps, the Devil sprays herbicides all over the land, and turns it into a desert. Madelon comes in with a gigantic cabbage. The magician attempts to convince her that this cabbage is far better than the old ones and that, when everything will taste the same, everyone will think the same and there will be no problems anymore. Madelon drives out the magician. The garden becomes wild again and Guignol wakes up – happy to find everything as it was before. He wishes to cultivate the garden, but Madelon asks him to leave it as it is. When Gnafron wakes up, he and Guignol come to the conclusion that one should be wary of all magicians.