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I have read the "Lost Money" story by Hoshi Shinichi, it was in my Japanese textbook.

I did not understand: is there an implication that each year the company employees, including the director himself, invented new and new means to steal the money from the company, using the old legend as a pretext?

The question not quite suits the forum but I have no one to ask this.

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    You seem to be asking about the content of the story. Please either find a link or quote the relevant sentences in your question.
    – Earthliŋ ♦
    Jan 4, 2017 at 19:35
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    実は全文を読んでみたのですが、このラストをどう説明したらいいのか、よく分かりませんでした…。とりあえず星新一の話は不思議でファンタジー的なものが多いので、"invented new means to steal the money" という解釈ではないだろう、と思います。
    – naruto
    Jan 10, 2017 at 16:08
  • @naruto Thank you very much for your explanation. If I understand correctly, it seems that you are confirming my understanding that both the fantastic and the realistic explanation of the story is possible. That is quite charming and is an exceptionally masterful story then. Again, thanks a lot.
    – Alexander
    Jan 11, 2017 at 19:51

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I'm afraid but you have a misunderstanding of the story.

The company loses certain amount of money in a blind way every year. No management and employees steal the money. You should carefully read the story again.

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  • Yes, but I think the story can be read in such a way as to understand that everybody is just stealing money every year using the old legend to make people think some supernatural force did it. Do you see anything in the story that forbids this way of reading?
    – Alexander
    Jan 8, 2017 at 9:38
  • The employee and the management never steal the money. At the beginning the story, an employee lost the money, but he entirely cound't understand hou the moeny was stolen. It is an unreal or fantastic story. If the employee and the management steal the company's money every year, it is just crime story! 星新一
    – Sonny365 TANAKA
    Jan 9, 2017 at 2:32
  • The employee and the management never steal the money. At the beginning the story, an employee lost the money, but he entirely cound't understand hou the moeny was stolen. It is an unreal or fantastic story. If the employee and the management steal the company's money every year, it is just crime story! 星新一 never wrote such ones. There is no clue to read this story. If you can find the English version, It could be helpful.
    – Sonny365 TANAKA
    Jan 9, 2017 at 2:41
  • Well, the employee might have been pretending. He specifically said: "if such a crime (of those ancinet robbers) remains not punished then there is no Buddha in this world". He might have been being cynical. In the same textbook there's another story by the same author called "A Secret Society" also charming in that ambiguity.
    – Alexander
    Jan 9, 2017 at 18:10

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