A Letter to God

Recap: Lencho, a devoted farmer, lives in a solitary house on a hilltop overlooking his fields of ripe corn. He eagerly anticipates a downpour for a good harvest. When rain begins, he rejoices, comparing the drops to new coins. However, the rain soon turns into a devastating hailstorm, destroying his entire cornfield and leaving him and his family with nothing. With unwavering faith, Lencho writes a letter to God, requesting a hundred pesos to replant his field and sustain his family. The postmaster, upon reading the letter, decides to collect money from his employees and friends to help Lencho, signing the reply as “God”. Lencho receives the money but, counting only seventy pesos, becomes angry and writes another letter to God, accusing the post office employees of being “a bunch of crooks”.

Detailed Notes with Subtopics:

• Lencho’s Home and Hope for Rain
  • Lencho’s house is the only one in the entire valley.
  • It is located on the “crest of a low hill”.
  • From his height, one can 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,” looked at the sky towards the north-east.
  • He tells his wife they are “really going to get some water”.
  • His wife, preparing supper, replies, “Yes, God willing”.
  • The older boys work in the field, while the smaller ones play near the house.
• The Rain and the Destructive Hailstorm
  • During the meal, big drops of rain begin to fall, as Lencho predicted.
  • Huge “mountains of clouds” approach from the north-east.
  • The air is “fresh and sweet”.
  • Lencho goes out to feel the rain on his body.
  • He exclaims that the raindrops are “new coins,” with big drops as “ten cent pieces” and little ones as “fives”.
  • With a satisfied expression, he regards his field of ripe corn, “draped in a curtain of rain”.
  • Suddenly, a strong wind begins to blow, and “very large hailstones” fall with the rain.
  • These hailstones “truly did resemble new silver coins”.
  • The boys run out to collect the “frozen pearls,” exposing themselves to the rain.
  • Lencho exclaims, “It’s really getting bad now,” hoping it passes quickly.
  • The hail rains for an hour on the house, garden, hillside, cornfield, and the whole valley.
  • The field turns white, “as if covered with salt”.
  • Not a leaf remains on the trees, the corn is “totally destroyed,” and flowers are gone from the plants.
• Lencho’s Faith in God
  • Lencho’s soul is “filled with sadness”.
  • After the storm, he tells his sons that “A plague of locusts would have left more than this. The hail has left nothing. This year we will have no corn”.
  • That night is “a sorrowful one,” and he laments, “All our work, for nothing” and “There’s no one who can help us”.
  • He believes, “We’ll all go hungry this year”.
  • Despite this, in the hearts of everyone in that solitary house, there is “a single hope: help from God”.
  • He reminds them, “no one dies of hunger”.
  • All through the night, Lencho thinks only of his hope in God, whose eyes “see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience”.
  • Lencho, described as “an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields,” still knows how to write.
• The Letter to God
  • The following Sunday, at daybreak, Lencho begins to write a letter to God, which he plans to mail himself.
  • In the letter, he writes, “God,” “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year”.
  • He requests “a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes, because the hailstorm….”.
  • He addresses the envelope “To God,” puts the letter inside, and goes to town to drop it in the mailbox.
• The Post Office’s Response
  • One employee, who is a postman and helps at the post office, laughs heartily upon seeing the letter addressed to God and shows it to his boss.
  • The postman had never known that address in his career.
  • The postmaster, a “fat, amiable, pleasant” fellow, also laughs but quickly turns serious.
  • He comments on Lencho’s “faith” and wishes he had such faith to “start up a correspondence with God!”.
  • To maintain Lencho’s faith, the postmaster decides to answer the letter.
  • He realizes he needs “something more than goodwill, ink and paper” to answer it.
  • He sticks to his resolution, asking for money from his employees, giving part of his own salary, and obliging several friends to contribute “for an act of charity”.
  • He is unable to gather the full hundred pesos, sending only “a little more than half”.
  • He puts the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho, with a letter containing only “God” as a signature.
• Lencho’s Reaction and Second Letter
  • The following Sunday, Lencho comes earlier to check for a letter.
  • The postman hands him the letter while the postmaster watches from his office, “experiencing the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed”.
  • Lencho shows “not the slightest surprise” due to his confidence.
  • However, he becomes angry when he counts the money, believing “God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested”.
  • Immediately, Lencho goes to the window for paper and ink.
  • At the public writing-table, he begins to write with “much wrinkling of his brow,” due to the effort to express his ideas.
  • He finishes, buys a stamp, licks it, and “affixed [it] to the envelope with a blow of his fist”.
  • As the letter falls into the mailbox, the postmaster retrieves it.
  • The letter states: “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.”.

Important Vocabulary:

• crest: top of a hill
• intimately: in a close or detailed manner
• downpour: a heavy fall of rain
• draped: covered (with cloth)
• locusts: insects which fly in big swarms (groups) and destroy crops
• conscience: an inner sense of right and wrong
• pesos: currency of several Latin American countries
• amiable: friendly and pleasant
• contentment: satisfaction
• counter: a long flat-topped fixture across which business is conducted in a shop, bank, or post office
• counter clerk: a person who works behind a counter
• appropriate: suitable or proper in the circumstances
• acknowledgement: an act of accepting or admitting that something exists or is true
• counterfoil: a part of a cheque, ticket, or other document that is retained by the issuer as a record
• record: a piece of information or a number of connected pieces of information that are preserved

Grammar Focus:

• Relative Clauses: The story highlights non-defining relative clauses, which provide additional information about a person or thing already identified.
  • Example: “All morning Lencho,
    who knew his fields intimately, had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east”. Here, “who knew his fields intimately” gives extra information about Lencho.
  • Example: “The woman,
    who was preparing supper, replied, ‘Yes, God willing.'”. “who was preparing supper” adds detail about the woman.
  • These clauses usually have commas before and after them, or a full stop if at the end of the sentence.
  • Relative pronouns like
    who, whom, whose, and which are used to introduce these clauses.
  • Sometimes the relative pronoun and verb can be “hidden”. For instance, “The house, the only one in the entire valley, sat on the crest of a low hill” can be rewritten as “The house, which was the only one in the entire valley, sat on the crest of a low hill”.
• Using Negatives for Emphasis: The text explains how negative words (no, not, nothing) can be used not just to show absence or contradiction, but also to emphasize an idea.
  • Example: “Lencho…had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east.” (He had done
    only this).
  • Example: “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).
  • Example: “Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money.” (He showed
    no surprise at all).
  • The contradiction in “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins” emphasizes the value of the rain to the farmer.

Phrases/Idioms:

• crest of a low hill: the top of a small hill
• knew his fields intimately: had a very detailed and personal knowledge of his fields
• God willing: if God desires it; hopefully
• mountains of clouds: large, imposing clouds
• new coins: used by Lencho metaphorically for raindrops, indicating their value
• ten cent pieces and fives: referring to the sizes/values of the raindrops
• draped in a curtain of rain: covered as if by a curtain of rain
• resemble new silver coins: look like freshly minted silver coins (referring to hailstones)
• frozen pearls: a metaphor for hailstones, highlighting their appearance and value
• plague of locusts: a large swarm of locusts causing widespread destruction
• all our work, for nothing: all their efforts yielded no results
• no one dies of hunger: a common saying expressing resilience and hope
• ox of a man: a strong, hardworking man
• daybreak: dawn; the first light of day
• go hungry: suffer from lack of food
• mailed it: sent it through the postal service
• laughing heartily: laughing loudly and genuinely
• known that address: been familiar with that address
• broke out laughing: suddenly started laughing
• tapping the letter on his desk: lightly hitting the letter on the desk
• shake the writer’s faith: to cause the writer to lose belief
• came up with an idea: thought of a plan
• stuck to his resolution: remained firm in his decision
• act of charity: an action done to help others
• a little more than half: slightly over fifty percent
• addressed to Lencho: directed to Lencho as the recipient
• performed a good deed: carried out a kind or helpful act
• showed not the slightest surprise: displayed no surprise at all
• wrinkling of his brow: furrowing his forehead, indicating thought or effort
• blow of his fist: striking with his clenched hand
• bunch of crooks: a group of dishonest people

One Word Substitutions:

• downpour: a heavy fall of rain
• locusts: insects which fly in big swarms (groups) and destroy crops
• conscience: an inner sense of right and wrong
• amiable: friendly and pleasant
• contentment: satisfaction