-
What did Lencho hope for?
ANS. Lencho hoped for a shower for his crops.
-
Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
ANS. After the rain, everything was going as per Lencho’s plan and he had
immense confidence that his harvest would yield substantial profits. Thus, he
referred to the droplets as “new coins, the larger ones being equivalent to ten
pesos and smaller ones, five pesos.
-
How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
ANS. Soon after the rainfall had begun, the wind became strong leading to a
hailstorm. As a result of which, Lencho’s field was withered, the plants had shed
their leaves and the flowers had fallen.
-
What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
ANS. Lencho was extremely disheartened and his soul was filled with immense
sadness. Initially, he was numb and was not able to accept reality. Then he
started despairing.
-
Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
ANS. Lencho had unwavering faith in God. Thus, he decided to write a letter to
God conveyed his grievances and asked for 100 pesos for the survival and
rejuvenation of crops.
-
Who read the letter?
ANS. A postman who was also an employee of the post office read the letter.
-
What did the postmaster do then?
ANS. The postmaster was amazed at Lencho’s unshakeable faith in the deity
and thus, to retain it, he decided to collect money for him from his friends and
colleagues.
-
Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
ANS. Lencho was not at all surprised on seeing the letter because this is what he
was expecting. Instead, he was angry when he found that the amount was less
than what he had asked for.
-
What made him angry?
ANS. Lencho was displeased when he found that the money was less than what
he had asked for.
-
Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
ANS. Lencho has immense faith in God. These lines are evidence to this fact:
“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.”
-
Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?
ANS. The postmaster did not want to shake the writer’s faith in the almighty,
and thus, out of virtuous intentions, decided to collect money for “an act of
charity”. He also signed the letter in the name of God to conceal his identity as
he wanted Lencho to think it was actually a reply from God.
-
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 the sender because he was very
optimistic about the existence of the almighty and that, his letter is actually received
and replied to, by God. It was his unshakeable faith that made him not question
the identity of the sender.
-
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.)
ANS. Lencho thought that it is the postmaster or the employees of the post office who had stolen his remaining amount, as is evident from his second letter to God where he requests the deity not to send money by mail next time. The
the irony here is that it was actually the postmaster and the employees who had
collected the money out of their clean intent to keep Lencho’s faith intact, but
are the ones who ended up getting blamed for stealing the missing amount.
-
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, unquestioning
ANS. No, it is hard to find people like Lencho in reality. Lencho is naïve and unquestioning because of his lack of judgment about the actual physical existence of God. He did not question receiving an actual reply from the almighty. Also, he is ungrateful in some manner because on seeing 70 pesos, he is not happy but instead, complained about the missing 30 pesos.
1. Who is the writer of the story from which the extract is taken?
a) R.K.Narayan
b) G..G.Marquez
c) G.L.Fuentes
d) None of these
Ans: c
2. Whose boys have been mentioned here?
a) Lencho’s
b) Rancho’s
c) Swaminathan’s
d) Postmaster’s
Ans: a
3. Why are the raindrops compared to silver coins?
a) Because they actually contained silver
b) Because they would bring money in the form of silver
c) Because they were heavy and large
d) Because they symbolized good luck
Ans: c