A Letter to God

 A Letter to God

1.State whether the following are true or false :

(a) Lencho was a farmer by profession.                                  Ans: True.

(b) Lencho had no family of his own.                                       Ans: False.

(c) Lencho predicted the rain by looking at the clouds.            Ans: True.

(d) All the corns of Lencho were totally destroyed.                  Ans: True.

(e) Lencho had an unshakable faith in God.                             Ans: True.

(f) Lencho expects 100 roubles in reply to his letter.                Ans: False.

(g) The Postmaster came to know about Lencho’s unshakable belief in God by opening and reading the letter of Lencho to God.                                         Ans: True.

(h) Lencho wrote a second letter to God conveying his thanks to Almighty for fulfilling his wish.                      Ans: False.

2.Choose the correct answer from the alternatives given :

(a) ______ sat on the crest of a low _____.   (top of a hill/middle/height)

Ans:       top of a hill.

(b) ______ was a downpour or at least _____. (wind/heavy fall of rain/storm)

Ans:       heavy fall of rain.

(c) ______ in that solitary house _____.                              (lonely/sociable/congested)

Ans:       lonely.

(d) ______ fat, amiable fellow _____.                  (unsociable/friendly/mannerless)

Ans:       friendly.

(e) ______ experiencing the contentment of a man _____.        (disgust/derision/satisfaction)

Ans:       satisfaction.

*Daybreak means morning/dawn

3.Who is the writer of the prose-piece, “A Letter to God”?

Ans:       G.L. Fuentes is the writer of the prose-piece, “A Letter to God”.

4.Who was Lencho?

Ans:       Lencho was a poor farmer.

5.Where was the house of Lencho situated?

Ans:  The house of Lencho was situated on the crest of a low hill in a valley.

6.What crop was farmed by Lencho?

Ans:       Lencho farmed corn.

7.What did the crop need before ripening?

Or, what was the only thing that the crop needed ?

Ans:       The crop needed a downpour or at least a shower before ripening.

8.Who was the “woman” mentioned in the story? 

Ans:       The “woman” mentioned in the story was Lencho’s wife.

9.What was prepared by the woman?

Ans:       Supper was prepared by the woman.

10.Where were the older boys working? 

Ans:   The older boys were working in the field.

11.Where were the smaller boys playing? 

Ans:   The smaller boys were playing near the house.

12.What was Lencho’s profession? 

Ans:       Lencho’s profession was farming.

13.What happened during the meal?

Ans:     Big drops of rain began to fall during the meal.

14.When did the big drops of rain begin to fall?

Ans:       The big drops of rain began to fall while Lencho’s wife was preparing meal.

15.From where the huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching? 

Ans:       From the north-east direction the huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching.

16.How was the air? 

Ans:       The air was fresh and sweet.

17.Why did Lencho go out in the rain? 

Ans:       Lencho went out in the rain to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.

18.What were the raindrops like, according to Lencho? 

Ans:       The raindrops were like new coins, according to Lencho.

19.When did the very large hailstones begin to fall? 

Ans:       A strong wind had begun to blow. Thereafter, very large hailstones began to fall along with the rain.

20.How did the field look after the rain? 

Ans:       The field looked white, as if covered with salt after the rain.

21.What happened to Lencho’s field? 

Ans:       Lencho’s field was completely destroyed by the hailstones.

22.Who or what did Lencho have faith in?

Ans:       Lencho had faith in God.

23.To whom did Lencho write a letter?

Ans:       Lencho wrote a letter to God.

24.What was the strange thing about Lencho’s letter? 

Ans: The strange thing about Lencho’s letter was that it was addressed to none other than God.

25.What did Lencho expect in reply to his letter?

Ans:       Lencho expected a hundred pesos in reply to his letter.

26.Where did Lencho drop the letter? 

Ans:       Lencho dropped the letter in the mailbox at the post office.

27.To whom did the postman give the letter? 

Ans:       The postman gave the letter to the postmaster.

28.Who read the letter? 

Ans:       The postmaster read the letter.

29.What was the idea that the postmaster came up with?

Ans:       The postmaster came up with the idea of answering the letter to God as God himself.

30.From whom did the postmaster ask for money? 

Ans:       The postmaster asked for money from his employees and friends.

31.When did Lencho come to the post office again? 

Ans:       Lencho came to the post office again the following Sunday.

32.Who handed the letter to Lencho?

Ans:       The postman handed the letter to Lencho.

33.Why did Lencho write a second letter to God? 

Ans:       Lencho wrote a second letter to God to complain that only a part of the money reached him. He blamed the post office employees for this

34.Give a brief description of Lencho’s house.

Ans: Lencho’s house was the only one in the entire valley. It sat on the crest of a low hill overlooking the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with flowers that always promised a good

harvest.

35.Give a brief description of Lencho’s family. 

Ans:       Lencho had a wife and at least four boys. It was a happy family. The family members were deeply religious. They lived in a solitary house on a hilltop.

36.When did the rain start? How did the family of Lencho welcome the rain? 

Ans:       The rain started during the meal. The family of Lencho welcomed the rain warmly. Lencho was so excited that he went out to feel the rain on his body.

37.What did Lencho hope for? 

Ans:       Lecho hoped for at least shower for good harvest in his corn field.

38.Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’? 

Ans:       The raindrops would make a good harvest and thereby bring new coins to Lencho. So he says the raindrops were like ‘new coins’.

39.How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?

Ans:    The rain changed into hailstorms.

Lencho’s field was totally destroyed by the hailstones.

40.Describe the destruction caused by hailstones in Lencho’s fields.

Ans:       The hail rained on Lencho’s house, garden, cornfield, the hillside and the entire valley for an hour. The field was white, as if covered with salt. Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn in Lencho’s cornfield was totally destroyed.

41.What were Lencho’s feelings when the rain/hail had stopped?

Ans:       Lencho was filled with sadness after the rain/hail had stopped. His corn was totally destroyed. He said to his sons that they would have no corn that year. But he was hopeful of getting help from God.

42.How did Lencho console his family? 

Ans:       Lencho consoled his family saying that it was not a total loss, though it seems to be. He further adds that no one dies of hunger.

43.Who or what did Lencho have faith in? 

Ans:       Lencho had deep faith in God. He believed that God eyes see everything.

44.What did Lencho write in the first letter addressed to God?

Ans:       In the first letter, Lencho wrote, “God, if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes, because the hailstorm….”

45.How did Lencho send the letter? 

Ans:       Lencho went to the post office at town one Sunday, placed a stamp on the letter and dropped it into the mailbox.

46.Why was the postmaster amazed after seeing the letter? 

Ans:       The postmaster was amazed to see that the letter was addressed to none other than God. He was amazed at the sender’s deep faith in God.

47.What did the postmaster do in order to not break Lencho’s firm belief/faith in the Almighty/God? 

Ans:  In order to not break Lencho’s firm belief/faith in the Almighty/God, the postmaster decided to answer the letter as God himself. He collected money from his employees, friends and contributed a part of his salary to send to Lencho. He put the money in an envelope and sent it.

48.Why did the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why did he sign the letter ‘God’?

Ans:       The postmaster sent money to Lencho in order to not shake his firm faith in God. It was also an act of charity.

He signed the letter ‘God’ so that Lencho would think the letter really came from God.

49.Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it? Cite the reason.

Ans:       Lencho was not the least surprised to find a letter for him with money in it. He was totally sure that it came from God. Such was his faith in God.

50.When did Lencho come to the post office? What were the reasons of the postmaster and the postman to Lencho’s coming there?

Ans:       Lencho came to the post office the following Sunday a bit earlier than usual.

The postmaster and the postman would probably think that Lencho had come there in order to write a letter of thanks to God.

51.Why was Lencho angry after opening the letter?

Ans:       Lencho was angry after opening the letter because he found only seventy pesos inside the envelope. He had demanded a hundred pesos from God. Instead of getting angry on God, he got angry on the post office employees because he thought them to have misappropriated the money.

52.What did Lencho write in his second letter to God? 

Ans:       In the second letter to God, Lencho informed that he had only received seventy pesos. He requested God to send him the rest of the money through some other way except the mail because the post office employees were, in his view, dishonest.

53.Do you think the employees at the post office were really crooks? 

Ans:       I don’t think the employees at the post office were really crooks. In fact, they were so benevolent that they had collected money to send to Lencho to assist him and to keep his faith in God intact.                                                      

54.Write a few words about the post master and his noble character.

Ans-The postmaster was a fat and amiable fellow. He was an honest person and helpful person. At first, he laughed at the Lencho’s latter. But, he kept the faith in God by Lencho. He was also one kind hearted person and so he sent to Lencho seventy pesos from collection of their employees, several friends also himself from his salary.