EDITOR'S ORIGINAL QUERY: ADA contains at least one
allusion to Comtesse de Segur's childrens books. Does anyone out there know
whether there is a "Burning Barn" scene in any of them?
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There is a chapter called "L'incendie" in Mémoires
d'un âne by la Comtesse de Ségur which bears a few similarities with the Burning
Barn chapter. No barn is burning in Ségur though a castle and its stables
are. Both narrators are awoken by the same cry :
MdA: "Un soir
que je commençais à m'endormir,je fus révéillé par des cris: Au
feu!" Ada: " We were roused in our separate rooms be her crying au
feu!
The donkey then proceeds to rescue the little Pauline (who is
wearing her nightgown) from the flames (in Ada: Van was "ready to save Ada
and all her larvae") by taking her to a safe cellar where they will have to
spend the night together until the fire is extinguished.
Once safe,
Pauline kneels down and prays to God: ("Quand elle se vit sauvée et à l'abri de
tout danger, elle se jeta à genoux et fit un prière touchante pour remercier
Dieu de l'avoir préservée d'un si grand danger") which reminds me of the
"Praying children in a very bad picture" in Ada.