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vần thơ tình Việt Nam

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An eccentric man had a block of wood measuring 3 feet by 1 foot by 1 foot, which he gave to a wood turner with instructions to turn from it a pedestal, saying that he would pay him a certain sum for every cubic inch of wood taken from the block in process of turning. The ingenious turner weighed the block and found it to contain 30 pounds. After he had finished the pedestal it was again weighed, and found to contain 20 pounds. As the original block contained 3 cubic feet, and it had lost just one-third of its weight, the turner asked payment for 1 cubic foot. But the gentleman objected, saying that the heart of the wood might be heavier or lighter than the outside.