Meaning of 「〜のと〜ので」


My questions are regarding portions of the following sentence in bold:

> 幸{さいわ}いナイフが小さい **のと** 、親指の骨が堅{かた}かった **ので** 、今だに親指は手に付いて居る。

More generally, I am wondering about the 「〜のと〜ので」 construct presented here. (I
am assuming that it can be treated as a single construct)

  1. What role does 「のと」 play here? Is it simply linking multiple reasons for 「ので」, or is there some relation between the reasons listed?

  2. Can 「のと」 also be used in this fashion for more than two reasons?

  3. What would be the difference between the above and the following?

> 幸{さいわ}いナイフが小さ **くて** 、親指の骨が堅{かた}かった **ので** 、今だに親指は手に付いて居る。




The difference between X **くて** Yので and X **のと** Yので is that `くて` can
sometimes imply a causal relationship **between** X and Y.

In a context where the two reasons could possibly be related, a sentence with
`くて` can be interpreted as:

> 頭が痛 **くて** 、昨日あまり眠れなかったので、集中できない。  
>  _I can't concentrate because [ I couldn't sleep well yesterday because [my
> head hurt] ]._

Using `のと` will unambiguously separate the two reasons:

> 頭が痛い **のと** 、昨日あまり眠れなかったので、集中できない。  
>  _I can't concentrate because [my head hurts] and [I couldn't sleep well
> yesterday]._

This is not an issue in your example from 『坊っちゃん』, because knife size cannot
possibly be interpreted as the cause of the rigidity of his thumb bone. There
is no significant difference between `のと` and `くて` in this case.

**TL;DR** `のと` is a way of simply listing reasons, while `くて` can sometimes
denote a relationship between them. `のと` can be used in this way to list more
than two reasons.




The difference between X **くて** Yので and X **のと** Yので is that `くて` can
sometimes imply a causal relationship **between** X and Y.

In a context where the two reasons could possibly be related, a sentence with
`くて` can be interpreted as:

> 頭が痛 **くて** 、昨日あまり眠れなかったので、集中できない。  
>  _I can't concentrate because [ I couldn't sleep well yesterday because [my
> head hurt] ]._

Using `のと` will unambiguously separate the two reasons:

> 頭が痛い **のと** 、昨日あまり眠れなかったので、集中できない。  
>  _I can't concentrate because [my head hurts] and [I couldn't sleep well
> yesterday]._

This is not an issue in your example from 『坊っちゃん』, because knife size cannot
possibly be interpreted as the cause of the rigidity of his thumb bone. There
is no significant difference between `のと` and `くて` in this case.

**TL;DR** `のと` is a way of simply listing reasons, while `くて` can sometimes
denote a relationship between them. `のと` can be used in this way to list more
than two reasons.

