Lencho hoped for a downpour or a shower. Lencho hoped to get some water as he needed the water to grow his crops, from which he earned money for his family.
Q2: Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
(When the rain first fell, before the hailstorm)
Lencho compared the raindrops to ten and five-cent coins as he knew that his crops were ready for the rain. If the rain fell on time, they would have gotten a big harvest. A good harvest would have made a lot of money for Lencho and his family.
Q3: How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Suddenly, a strong wind began to blow, and the raindrops were gone. Instead, very large hailstones began to fall all over the fields that looked like shining silver coins. But, because of their size and speed, the hailstones utterly destroyed Lencho’s fields. The hail knocked off flowers and leaves from all his plants and trees.
Q4: What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. The hail destroyed a year’s worth of hard work with no hope of renewal. Lencho was afraid that he and his family would go hungry and starve.
Q5: Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Lencho had faith in God, so he wrote a letter addressed to God asking for 100 Pesos. He then posted it from the post office in the nearby town.
Q6: Who read the letter? (The letter sent by Lencho to God)
The Postmaster read the letter after the Postman gave it to him. Both the Postman and Postmaster found it funny and amazing that the letter was addressed to God.
The Postmaster then asked all his employees for money and added some of his own money to a return envelope to Lencho. The Post office employees together could only raise 70 Pesos for Lencho.
Q7:Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Lencho was not surprised, such was his faith. Rather, Lencho was angry to find 30 Pesos less than he had requested.
He thought the 30 Pesos had been stolen by the Post Office staff.
Q8: What made him angry?
Lencho was angry because he had asked for 100 Pesos, out of which he only received 70. Lencho was sure that the Post Office employees had stolen the remaining 30 Pesos, and he was angry at them for that.
Q9: Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
Lencho has complete faith in God. The following sentences in the story tell us that:
“ But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope: help from God. ”
“Remember, no one dies of hunger.” “That’s what they say: no one dies of hunger.”
“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.”
“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”
“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.”
“God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.”
“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.”
Q10: Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?
The Postmaster was impressed and moved by Lencho’s faith in God, and so he wanted to keep Lencho’s faith alive. He wanted to make Lencho believe that God does indeed hear him and reply with blessings. To do this, the Postmaster sent money to Lencho and signed ‘God’.
Q11: Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?
Lencho was completely sure and certain that God himself had sent him the money he had asked for. That is why he did not try to check who sent him the 70 Pesos. Rather, he was convinced that the Post Office employees had stolen 30 Pesos that God sent him.
Q12: Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation?
(Remember that the irony of a situation is an unexpected aspect of it. An ironic situation is strange or amusing because it is the opposite of what is expected.)
Lencho was sure that the Post Office employees or staff had taken the remaining 30 pesos. The irony in this situation is that the 70 Pesos that Lencho did get were sent by the same Post Office employees who Lencho believes to have stolen from him.
Q13: Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is? You may select appropriate words from the box to answer the question.
(greedy, naive, stupid, ungrateful, selfish, comical, and unquestioning)
Yes, there are many people like Lencho in the real world who are unquestioning, ungrateful, and naive. This whole situation was comical and while some may consider Lencho to be stupid, there is no clear evidence that Lencho is selfish or greedy, as he has fallen on hard times.
Q14:There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?(greedy, naive, stupid, ungrateful, selfish, comical, and unquestioning)
The conflict between Humans and Nature can be seen in the destruction of Lencho’s fields and corn crops by the hailstorm. Lencho worked ‘like an Ox’ in the fields to secure a good harvest for himself and his family, but nature destroyed everything with hail.
The conflict between humans themselves can be seen in Lencho’s response to getting 70 Pesos instead of 100. The Postmaster and his employees did an act of kindness by sending money to Lencho, but Lencho accused them of stealing 30 Pesos, calling them “a bunch of crooks”. This tells us that Lencho does not have faith in his fellow man, creating the conflict.
