A LETTER TO GOD

NCERT ENGLISH SOLUTIONS

CLASS TEN  CHAPTER 1 

A LETTER TO GOD

Oral Comprehension Check Page (5) 

1. What did Lencho hope for? 

Answer : Lencho hoped for a good rain as it was needed for a good harvest. 

2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like 'new coins'? 

Answer : Lencho said the raindrops were like 'new coins' because they were promising him a good harvest which would result in more prosperity. 

3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho's fields? 

Answer : Suddenly a strong wind began to blow and very large hailstones began to fall along with the rain. The hailstorm continued for an hour and destroyed the corn fields and flowers from the plants. 

4. What were Lencho's feelings when the hail stopped? 

Answer : After the hailstones stopped, Lencho's soul was filled with sadness. He realized that nothing was left to feed his family for the entire year and he could actually visualize a bleak future for his family. 

Oral Comprehension Check Page (6) 

1.Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do? 

Answer : Lencho had strong faith in God. He wrote a letter to God demanding a hundred pesos in order to sow his field again. 

2. Who read the letter? 

Answer : The postmaster read the letter. 

3. What did the postmaster do then? 

Answer: The postmaster  broke out laughing when he first read the letter but then he became serious.He was deeply moved by Lencho's faith in God. So, he decided to collect the money and send it to Lencho as he didn't wanted to break his faith in God . 

Oral Comprehension Check Page (7) 

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

Answer : No, Lencho was not surprised at all to find a letter for him with money in it.His faith in God was such that he had actually expected that reply from God. 

2. What made him angry? 

Answer :When Lencho opened the envelope and found only seventy pesos inside, he thought that God cannot make such a mistake nor deny him what he had requested. So, he concluded that the post office employees took the rest of the money and that made him really angry. 

Thinking about the Text  Page (6) 

1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in?Which sentences in the story tell you this? 

Answer : Lencho had complete faith in God. The sentences which tell this are as follows :

(i) 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. 

(ii) 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. 

(iii) "God," he wrote, "if you don't help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. "

(iv) He wrote "To God' on the envelope, put the letter inside and, still troubled, went to town. 

(v) God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested. 

(vi) 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. "

2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter 'God'? 

Answer : The postmaster sends money to Lencho in order to keep Lencho's faith in God alive as he was completely moved by it. He signs the letter 'God' in order to keep Lencho's faith intact. 

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

Answer : Lencho  not try to find out who had sent the money to him because he had complete faith in God and didn't bothered about the sender. 

4. 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.) 

Answer : Lencho thinks that the post office employees have taken the rest of the money as he had demanded a hundred pesos from God but he only received seventy pesos and God cannot make such mistakes. The irony in this situation is that Lencho suspects the employees of the post office and calls them 'crooks ' who actually helped him. 

5. 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. 

Answer : I don't think there are people like Lencho in the real world. He is literate but still doesn't know how his letter reach God. Lencho is naive and unquestioning kind of a person. 

6. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated? 

Answer : The conflict between humans and nature is illustrated by the destruction of Lencho's crop by hailstorm. Lencho was expecting a good harvest but he was left disappointed and sad as nature destroyed his crops and everything. 

Conflict between humans themselves is also illustrated in the story. The postmaster tried to help Lencho by giving a part of money from his salary and by collecting money from his friends . After receiving money Lencho instead of being grateful blamed the post office employees for stealing some money and called them 'crooks'. It really shows that man lacks faith in his fellow humans which leads to conflict between humans themselves. 

Thinking about Language 

1. Look at the following sentence from the story. 

       Suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. 

'Hailstones' are small balls of ice that fall like rain. A storm in which hailstones fall is a 'hailstorm'. You know that a storm is bad weather with strong winds, rain, thunder and lightning. 

There are different names in different parts of the world for storms, depending on their nature. Can you match the names  in the box with their descriptions below, and fill in the blank? You may use a dictionary to help you.

 

1. A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: 

_ c _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Answer : cyclone 

2. An extremely strong wind : _ a _ _

Answer : gale 

3. A violent tropical storm with very strong winds : _ _ p _ _ _ _ 

Answer : typhoon

4. A violent storm whose centre is cloud in the shape of a funnel : _ _ _ n _ _ _ 

Answer : tornado 

5. A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean : _ _ r _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Answer : hurricane 

6. A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage : _ _ _ _ l _ _ _ _ 

Answer : whirlwind 

II. Notice how the word 'home is used in sentences from the story: 

(a) I hope it (the hailstorm) passes quickly. 

(b) There was a single hope : help from God. 

In the first example, 'hope' is a verb which means you wish for something to happen. In the second example it is a noun meaning a chance for something to happen. 

Match these sentences in Column A with the meanings of 'hope' in Column B. 

A	B
1. Will you get the subjects you want   to study in college ?  I hope so.	- a feeling that something good will  probably happen
2. I hope you don't mind my saying   this, but I don't like the way you   are arguing.	- thinking that this would happen   (It may or may not have happened.)
3. This discovery will give new hope   to HIV/AIDS sufferers.	- stopped believing that this good   thing would happen
4. We were hoping against hope that  the judges would not notice our   mistakes.	- wanting something to happen   (and thinking it quite possible)
5. I called early in the hope of   speaking to her before she went  to school.	- showing concern that what you   say should not offend or disturb   the other person: a way of being   polite
6. Just when everybody had given up   hope , the fishermen came back,  seven days after the cyclone.	- wishing for something to happen,  although this is very unlikely

Answer -

A	B
1. Will you get the subjects you want   to study in college ?  I hope so.	- thinking that this would happen   (It may or may not have happened.)
2. I hope you don't mind my saying   this, but I don't like the way you   are arguing.	- showing concern that what you   say should not offend or disturb   the other person: a way of being   polite
3. This discovery will give new hope   to HIV/AIDS sufferers.	- a feeling that something good  will probably happen
4. We were hoping against hope that  the judges would not notice our   mistakes.	- wishing for something to happen,  although this is very unlikely
5. I called early in the hope of   speaking to her before she went  to school.	- wanting something to happen   (and thinking it quite possible)
6. Just when everybody had given up   hope , the fishermen came back,  seven days after the cyclone.	- stopped believing that this good   thing would happen

Relative Clauses

 Look at these sentences

    (a) All morning Lencho -----who knew his fields intimately ------ looked at 

           the sky.

    (b) The woman, who was preparing supper, replied, "Yes, God willing."

The italicised parts of the sentences give us more information about Lencho 

and the woman. We call them relative clauses. Notice that they begin with

a relative pronoun who. Other common relative pronouns are whom, whose, 

and which.

The relative clauses in (a) and (b) above are called non- defining, because

we already know the identity of the person they describe. Lencho is a 

particular person, and there is a particular woman he speaks to. We don't 

need the information in the relative clause to pick these people out from a 

larger set.

A non- defining relative clause usually has a comma in front of it and a 

comma after it (some writers use a dash (---) instead, as in the story). If the 

relative clause comes at the end, we just put a full stop. 

Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose , which, as 

suggested.

1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India.(which)

Answer :  I often go to Mumbai which is the commercial capital of India.

2. My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (who)

Answer : My mother who cooks very well, is going to host a TV show on cooking.

3. These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance 

has been excellent. (whose)

Answer : These sportspersons whose performance has been excellent, are going 

to meet the President.

4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)

Answer : Lencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.

5. This man cheated me. I trusted him. (whom)

Answer : This man whom I trusted cheated me.

Sometimes the relative pronoun in a relative clause remains 'hidden'. For 

example, look at the first sentence of the story:

    (a) The house ----the only one in the entire valley -----sat on the crest of a 

        low hill.

 We can rewrite this sentence as:

  (b) The house ---- which was the only one in the entire valley ----- sat on 

        the crest of  a low hill.

In (a), the relative pronoun which and the verb was are not present.

IV. Using Negatives for Emphasis

    We know that sentences with words such as no, not or nothing show the 

    absence of something, or contradict something. For example:

    (a) This year we will have no corn. (Corn will be absent)

    (b) The hail has left nothing. (Absence of a crop)

    (c) These aren't raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins.

        (Contradicts the common idea of what the drops of water falling from 

            the sky are)

But sometimes negative words are used just to emphasise an idea. Look at 

these sentences from the story: 

    (d) Lencho...had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north- east.

        (He had done only this)

    (e) The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of 

          feeling the rain on his body. (He had only this reason)

    (f) Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money.

         (He showed no surprise at all)

Now look back at example (c). Notice that the contradiction in fact serves to 

emphasise the value or usefulness of the rain to the farmer.

Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the 

following ideas emphatically.

1. The trees lost all their leaves.

Answer : Not a leaf remained on the trees.

2. The letter was addressed to God himself.

Answer : It was nothing less than a letter to God.

3. The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.

Answer : Never in his career as a postman had he seen 

 that address.

V. Metaphors

The word metaphor comes from a Greek word meaning 'transfer'. Metaphors

compare two things or ideas: a quality or feature of one thing is transferred

to another thing. Some common metaphors are 

• the leg of the table: The leg supports our body. So the object that supports a table 

is described as a leg.

• the heart of the city: The heart is an important organ in the centre of our

body. So this word is used to describe the central area of a city. 

In pairs, find metaphors from the story to complete the table below. Try 

to say what qualities are being compared. One has been done for you.

Object	Metaphor	Quality or Feature Compared
Cloud	Huge mountains   of clouds	The mass or 'hugeness'   of mountains
Raindrops
Hailstones
Locusts
		An epidemic (a disease)  that spreads very rapidly   and leaves many people dead
	An ox of a man

Answer -

Object	Metaphor	Quality or Feature Compared
Cloud	Huge mountains   of clouds	The mass or 'hugeness'   of mountains
Raindrops	Coins	Money that a good crop   will bring
Hailstones	Frozen pearls	brightness of pearls
Locusts	a plague of locusts	An epidemic (a disease)  that spreads very rapidly   and leaves many people dead
Lencho	An ox of a  man	strong and hardworking nature resembles the working of an ox in the fields.