A Letter to God | NCERT Book Class 10 English First Flight

Summary – A Letter to God

This is the story of a farmer, Lencho, who wrote a letter to God and addressed it to the little-known address – God! He wrote the letter because his crops failed due to heavy hailstorm when he and his poor family had been waiting for a rain. Advised by his wife, Lencho writes a letter to God. When the postmen saw such an unusual letter, they were very curious to know the content of the letter so they opened and saw the letter. The postmaster felt sympathy for the uneducated Lencho so he decided to send Lencho some money as if sent from heaven.

Notes

Lencho’s crops had failed that year and he had only a single hope – God!
So, Lencho wrote a letter to God for help – “God, my crops have failed and my family is going to starve. I need some money – hundred pesos.”
At the post office, the postmen saw such a queer letter and brought it to the postmaster.
The postmaster was a man with enough sympathy and concern to understand a man like Lencho. He saw that Lencho’s faith was as strong as a child’s so he decided to send an amount of hundred pesos to the poor farmer.
He collected all that he could collect but hundred pesos being a huge amount, the postmaster could collect only seventy pesos. However, he sent the money to Lencho.
Lencho received the money with no excitement. He had believed that God would help him.
Counting the money, Lencho was sad and angry. He had asked for hundred and God sent him only seventy. How can that be possible!
So Lencho wrote another letter to God and dropped the letter in the same postbox and went.
Opening Lencho’s second letter to God, the postmaster felt the biggest shock and shame in his life. Lencho had written, “God, of the money that I had asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much. But don’t send it to me through the post because the post office employees are a bunch of thieves. Lencho.”

For Video Explanation click here – https://youtu.be/OtLX8nRCGJQ

The Story

Words: Crest – top; corral – round up; intimately – closely

The house – the only one in the entire valley – sat on the crest of a low hill. From this height one could see the river and, next to the corral, the field of ripe corn dotted with the kidney bean flowers that always promised a good harvest.

The only thing the earth needed was a rainfall, or at least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho – who knew his fields intimately – had done nothing else but scan the sky toward the northeast.

“Now we’re really going to get some water, woman.”

The woman, who was preparing supper (dinner), replied: “Yes, God willing.”

The oldest boys were working in the field, while the smaller ones were playing near the house, until the woman called to them all: “Come for dinner…”

It was during the meal that, just as Lencho had predicted, big drips of rain began to fall. In the northeast huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh and sweet.

The man went out to look for something in the corral for no other reason than to allow himself the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body, and when he returned he exclaimed: “those aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they’re new coins. The big drops are ten-cent pieces and the little ones are fives…”

With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of ripe corn with its kidney bean flowers, draped (covered) in a curtain of rain. But suddenly a strong wind began to fall. These truly did resemble new silver coins. The boys, exposing themselves to the rain, ran out to collect the frozen pearls.

“It’s really getting bad now,” exclaimed the man, mortified. “I hope it passes quickly.”

It did not pass quickly. For an hour the hail (hailstones) rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, the corn field, on the whole valley. The field was white, as if covered with salt. Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the kidney bean plants. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. When the storm had passed, he stood in the middle of the field and said to his sons: “A plague of locusts would have left more than this… the hail has left nothing: this year we will have no corn or beans…”

That night was a sorrowful one: “All our work, for nothing!”

“There’s no one who can help us!”

But in the hears of all who lived in that solitary(lonely) house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope: help from God.

“Don’t be so upset, even though this seems like a total loss. Remember, no one dies of hunger!”

“That’s what they say: no one dies of hunger….”

All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.

Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but still he knew how to write. The following Sunday, at day break, after having convinced, himself that there is a protecting spirit he began to write a letter which he himself would carry to town and place in the mail.

It was nothing less than a letter to God.

“God,” he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos in order to sow(plant) the field and to live until the crop comes, because the hailstorm…”

He wrote “To God” on the envelope, put the letter inside and, still troubled, went to town. At the post office he placed a stamp on the letter and dropped it into the mailbox.

One of the employees, who was a postman and also helped at the post officer, went to his boss, laughing heartily and showed him the letter to God. Never in his career as a postman had he known that address. The postmaster – a fat amiable (friendly) fellow – also broke out laughing, but almost immediately he turned serious and, tapping the letter on his desk, commented: “what faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter. To believe the way he believes. To hope with the confidence that he knows how to hope with. Starting up a correspondence with God!”

So, in order not to disillusion that prodigy of faith, revealed by a letter that could not be delivered, the postmaster came up with an idea: answer the letter. But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer it he needed something more than good will, ink and paper. But he stuck to his resolution: he asked for money from his employee, he himself gave part of his salary, and several friends of his were obliged to give something “for an act of charity”.

It was impossible for him to gather together the hundred pesos requested by Lencho, so he was able to send the farmer only a little more than half. He put the bills in an envelope addressed to Lencho and with them a letter containing only a signature: GOD

The following Sunday Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It was the postman himself who handed the letter to him, while the postmaster, experiencing the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed, looked on from the doorway of his office.

Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the bills – such was his confidence – but he became angry when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested!

Immediately, Lencho went up to the window to ask for paper and ink. On the public writing table, he started to write with much wrinkling of his brow, caused by the effort he had to make to express his ideas. When he finished, he went to the window to buy a stamp, which he licked and then affixed to the envelope with a blow of his fist.

The moment that the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to open it. It said;

“God: Of the money that I asked for only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much. But don’t send it to me through the mail, because the post office employees are a bunch of crooks. Lencho.”

Questions and Answers

Q.1 The only things the earth needed was a downpour. Why was a rain so much expected by Lencho?

Ans. Lencho’s was a farmer family. They cultivated corn. Lencho, his wife and his sons worked very hard for better crops but they didn’t receive any rains when the crops needed one. The corn field was ready but all it needed was a soft rain before harvesting the ripe corn.

Q.2 Except a rain, everything went well with Lencho. What all went well with Lencho?

Ans. Lencho was a happy man for a number of reasons. His house stood on the crest of a hill. His family was a happy one. His sons were not lazy. They worked with their father and mother. Their house was near the river and their corn-field was ready for harvest. Besides, his ripe corn was dotted with the flowers which was a good sign of a good harvest.

Q.3 How did Lencho feel when it began to rain?

Ans. When it began to rain during the meal, Lencho’s heart went out with ecstasy(joy). Hearing big drops of rain falling on the roof, Lencho went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.

Q.4 “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are the ten-cent pieces and the little ones are fives.” What did Lencho mean by this?

Ans. For Lencho, the raindrops brought him fortune. The farmer knew how the rain would help him harvest his corn that was already awaiting harvest. Lencho was an experienced farmer so he could calculate the money that his harvested corn would fetch him.

Q.5 What went against Lencho’s calculations?

Ans. While Lencho was bathed in the soft falling rain, a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. For a corn cultivator (farmer), hailstorms bring bad luck as they destroy the harvest.

Q.6 “These truly did resemble new silver coins.” What does this line refer to?

Ans. When it began to rain, Lencho called the raindrops ‘coins.’ It was quite unfortunate that a hailstorm followed the rain. Looking at the hailstorms, Lencho could no longer call them silver coins because hailstorms would completely destroy a corn cultivation.

Q.7 “I hope it passes quickly.” What did Lencho hope to pass?

Ans. Lencho hoped that the hailstorm passed quickly.

Q.8 How did the hailstorm ravage(ruin) Lencho’s corn?

Ans. For an hour the hail rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, the corn field, on the whole valley. The field was white, as if covered with salt. Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the plants.

Q.9 Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?

Ans. No. Lencho was not at all surprised to see the letter from God with money inside it. His confidence and faith in God was such that he had expected that reply from God. When he finished counting money he found only seventy pesos. But he demanded hundred pesos. He was confident that God could neither make a mistake nor deny him what he had requested. Therefore, he concluded that the post office employees must have taken the remaining thirty pesos.

Q.10 Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

Ans. Postmaster was moved by Lencho’s complete faith in the God. So, he decided to send money to Lencho. Moreover, the postmaster did not want to shake Lencho’s faith in God. So, he signed the letter ‘God’. It was a good ploy (strategy) to convey a message that God had himself written the letter.

Q.11 Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?

Ans. No, Lencho did not try to find out who had sent the money to him. This is because he had great confidence in God and never suspected that it could be someone else other than God who would send him the money. His faith in God was so strong that he believed that God had sent him the money.

Q.12 From another point of view, it was God who had sent Lencho the seventy pesos. Explain.

Ans. God has been an abstract term throughout since men and women began to pray to him yet there have been instances that prove his existence. God acts through men, women, children, animals and through the rest of the nature. In Lencho’s case, we can believe that it was God who inspired the postman to take such an initiative and raise money for Lencho. Unlike man, God doesn’t demand man’s acknowledgement or thanks. He does man good without the least desire for name and fame.

Extract Based Questions [3 Marks each]

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Question 1.

The house- the only one in the entire valley- sat on the crest of a low hill. From this height one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that always promised a good harvest. The only thing the Earth needed was a downpour or at least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho who knew his fields intimately had done nothing else but see the sky towards the North-East. “Now we’re really going to get some water, woman.

” The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing”.

(a) Where was Lencho’s house located?

(b) What was Lencho’s wife preparing?

(d) What does ‘Crest’ means?

Answer:

Lencho’s house was located on the crest of a low hill.

(b) Lencho’s wife was preparing supper.

(d) Crest means the top part of a hill.

Question 2

The following Sunday, Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It was the postman himself who handed the letter to him while the postmaster, experiencing the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed, looked on from his office.

Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence, but he became angry when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.

(a) Why did Lencho come earlier to the post office?

(b) Why wasLencho angry when he counted money?

(d) Which word in the passage gives the meaning ‘that one will be successful one day’.

Answer:

(a) Lencho came earlier to the post office to know if there was a letter for him.

(b) Lencho was angry when he counted money as it was not the full amount that he had demanded from God.

(d) The word is ‘confidence’.

Class Xth English Notes for Chapter 1 (Term II)