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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>>FWIW, the bit about studying math in the bathroom has to be a
legend.<BR>Outhouses have a nauseating smell and no lighting. You don't sit
there<BR>and read. It's anachronistic, a mental image that is only
plausible<BR>after indoor plumbing.<<<BR><BR>Tir'u
baTov!<BR>-mi<BR><BR> </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>You may be right, but it's possible that people got used to the smell of an
outhouse, and that cracks in the walls let in enough light to read, at least by
day. Also people used to use chamber pots in their bedrooms, and then
empty them outside. (My grandmother had a porcelain chamberpot that she brought
with her to NY from Poland -- it came in handy in an apartment with only
one bathroom, when a small grandchild just couldn't wait.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The following is anecdotal but possible evidence that the Vilna Gaon
/could/ have done some reading in the throne room, aka the Little Library.</DIV>
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<DIV>I have a book about famous literary insults and put-downs, and in it there
is a story about Voltaire. He wrote to someone he greatly
disliked: "I am sitting in the smallest room in my house. Your
letter is before me. Presently it will be behind me."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Voltaire was a contemporary of the Vilna Gaon.</DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><STRONG></STRONG><BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============</B></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>