11 A Letter to God Lencho, a hardworking farmer, faces ruin because of a calamity. He turns to God in distress and writes a letter asking Him to send money. Will He answer Lencho’s letter? The house - the only one in the entire valley sat on the crest1 of a low hill. From this height one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that always promised a good harvest. The only things the earth needed was a downpour2 or atleast a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho-who knew his fields intimately-had done nothing else but see the sky towards the northeast. “Now we’re really going to get some water, woman.” The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing” The older boys were working in the field, while smaller ones were playing near the house until the woman called to them all, “Come for dinner”. It was during the meal that just as Lencho had predicted, big drops of rain began to fall. In the northeast huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh and sweet. The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling 1- peak ridge 2- deluge heavy rainfall 83 the rain on his body, and when he returned he exclaimed. “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are the ten-cent pieces and the little ones are fives.” With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of ripe corn with its flowers draped in a curtain of rain. But suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. These truly did resemble new silver coins . The boys exposing themselves to the rain, ran out to collect the frozen pearls. “It’s really getting bad now,” exclaimed the man. “I hope it passes quickly.” It did not pass quickly. For an hour the hail rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, the cornfied, on the whole valley. The field was white, as if covered with salt. Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the plants. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness, When the storm had passed, he stood in the middle of the field and said to his sons, “A plague of locusts3 would have left more than this. The hail has left nothing. This year we will have no corn”. That night was a sorrwful one. “All our work, for nothing.” “There’s no one who can help us.” “We’ll all go hungry this year.” But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary4 house in the middle of the valley. there was a single hope, help from God. “Don’t be so upset even though this seems like a total loss. Remember no one dies of hunger.” “That is what they say: no one dies of hunger.” 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. Lencho was an ox of a man5, working like an animal in the fields. but still he knew how to write. The following Sunday at day break he began to 3. a swarm of large insects that destroy all the crops. 4. lonely 84 A Letter to God write a letter which he himself would carry to town and place in the mail. It was nothing less than a letter to God. “God”, he wrote, if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos6 in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes, because the hailstorm... 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. One of the employees who was a postman and also helped at the post office, went to his boss laughing heartily and showed him the letter to God. Never in his career as a postman had he known that address. The post master – a fat, amiable7 fellow - also broke out laughing, but almost immediately he turned serious and, tapping the letter on his desk, commented “What faith ! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter Starting up a correspondence with God !” So, in order not to shake the writer’s faith in God the postmaster came up with an idea: answer the letter. But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer it he needs something more than goodwill. ink and paper. But he stuck to his resolution8 : he asked for money from his employees, he himself gave part of his salary, and several friends of his were obliged to give something for an act of charity9. It was impossible for him to gather together the hundred pesos, so he was able to send the farmer only a little more than half. He put the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho and with it a letter containing only a single word as a signature : God. The following Sunday Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It was the postman himself who handed the letter to him while the postmaster, experiencing the contentment10 of a man who has performed a good deed, looked on from his office. 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. Immediately, Lencho went up to the window to ask for paper and ink. On the public writing table, he started to write, with much wrinking of his brow”, caused by the effort, he had to make to express his ideas. When he finished he went to the window to buy a stamp which he licked and then affixed to the envelope with a blow of his fist. The moment the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to open it. It said : “God : Of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos13 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 crooks12. Lencho.” - G. L. Fuentes 5 - a tough man 6 - the currency of Lencho’s country. 7 - friendly 8- promise 9- donations for the needy 10 - satisfaction. 11 - painstakingly, laboriously 12- criminals. 13-the unit of money in many Latin American countries and the Philippines. A Letter to God 85 A. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words given in the box : resemble, plague, slightest , surprise, bunch of, shower, down pour, swarm 1. These truly did—————new silver coins. 2. A _________ of locusts could have left more than this. 3. Lencho showed not the _________on seeing the money. 4. The post office employees are a __________ crooks. 5. The only thing the earth needed was a ______ or at least a ______. B. gle adjective can stand for different meaning gs. Do you know a sing gs of each phrase g iven below : Now write the correct meaning (a) a bright student. ________________ a bright light. ________________ a clear river. _____________ a bright colour. ________________ a clear sound. _____________ (e) a light vehicle. ________________ a light colour. a light meal. (b) (d) a clear sky. _____________ a fair tackle. _____________ ________________ a fair price. _____________ ________________ a fair skin. _____________ (C) “G God could not have made a mistake. nor could he have denied Lencho what he had ght of this statement. requested. Sketch the character of Lencho in the lig A. g questions in one or two sentences each. Answer the following 1. Where was Lencho’s house situated ? 2. What crop did he sow ? 3. What hope was left in Lencho’s heart after the storm ? 4. What did Lencho ask God in his letter ? 5. How did the postmaster feel handing the letter to Lencho ? 6. What was Lencho’s first reaction on opening the letter ? g questions in two to four sentences each. Answer the following B. 86 1. How did the storm affect Lencho ? 2. What made the postmaster open Lencho’s letter ? A Letter to God 3. What did he do to help Lencho ? 4. What did Lencho ask God in his second letter ? Active Voice g sentences : Read the following (i) (ii) Note - She Sub is verb writing the story. object The story is being written by her (Sub) (Is am/are +being + Verb III) object He has written the letter Sub (action) obj. The letter has been written by him,. (Sub) (has/have + been +Verb III) object Write the changes you have noticed while changing from active voice to passive voice. Passive Voice Present Continuos Tense Active Passive Ravi is making a kite. She is advising me. A kite is being made by Ravi. I am being advised by her. They are cutting the trees. The trees are being cut by them. Past continuous Tense Active I was writing an essay. They were drawing a picture. Passive An essay was being written. A picture was being drawn. He was writing some articles. Some artictes were being writeen by him. Present perfect Tense Active Passive ‘Rita has caught a rat. A rat has been caught by Rita. They have seen this article. This article has been seen by them. She has chosen these mugs. These mugs have been chosen by her. A Letter to God 87 Past perfect Tense Active Passive They had cut the trees. The trees had been cut. I had wasted the money. The money had been wasted. She had made Some pictures. Some pictures had been made by her. Exercise : Chang ge into passive : 1. My mother is making tea. 2. They are praising her . 3. Rina was doing her assignment. 4. They were making flowers. 5. She has lost her cell phone. 6. I have bought all the gifts. 7. He had done his classwork. 8. He has finished his lesson. 9. They were writing poetry. 10. We have learnt all rules . ge the followig g into passive voice. The tenses to be used are given within Exercise : Chang brackets. 88 1. This picture (always admire) - [present. ] 2. His leg (hurt) in an accident [past indefinite.] 3. This exercise (do very) carefully - [Present Continuous] 4. The box (not open) for the last hundred years. - [Present pefect] 5. Two of my dinner plates (break) - [Present perfect] 6. A big battle (fight) have 200 years ago - [Past indefinite] 7. You invite to lunch tomorrow - [Present perfect] 8. This play (forget) in a few years time - [Future indefinite] 9. Enlglish (Speak) all over the world. - [Present indefinite] A Letter to God 10. Were questions (ask) about me ? - [ Past indefinite ] 11. Milk (use) for making butter and cheese - [Present indefinite] 12. You (want) to help lay the table - [Present. indefinite] 13. The piano (play) for too loudly – [Past indefinite] 14. What (do) about this ? [Present Perfect] 15. The book (finish) next month ? [Future indefinite] g sentences : Read the following • Active Voice Passive Voice Mr. Rao is to clarify our doubts in grammar Doubts in grammar are to be clarified by Mr. Rao. We can solve this problem This problem can be solved. Somebody should have cleaned the yesterday. The window should have been cleaned windows yesterday. It is said that he is hundred years old. He is said to be hundred year old. It is reported that two people were killed in the explosion Two people were reported to have been killed in explosion It is expected that the strike will begin tomorrow The strike is expected to begin tomorrow. People say that it’s very good It is supposed to be very good. ges you have found while chang ging g from active voice to passive voice. Write the chang Exercise Chang ge these sentences into the passive in the same way. 1. You should look all these words up in a dictionary 2. We must go into this matter. 3. You cannot take her in so easily. 4. They locked the house up before they left. 5. He wishes to see that they have carried out his instructions. 6. People should send their complaints to the head office. 7. People say that he writes poetry. A Letter to God 89 Can you save the rabbit? Teacher will show the picture chart to the class. Then he/ she will say that she asked: Five people how they would rescue the rabbit from the well. This is what they said. Alan’s idea Get another pet rabbit. Put in the bucket. The bucket will go to the bottom of the well. The first rabbit will jump into the bucket to be with its mate. Now pull the bucket quickly. William’s idea Put a carrot and a stone in the bucket at the top of the well. The bucket will go down to the bottom of the well. The rabbit will smell the carrot. It will jump into the bucket. Now quickly jump into the other bucket. This will go down very quickly. The rabbit will come to the top of the well. Linda’s idea Find some thin string. Tie the carrot onto the end. Lower the carrot down the well. The rabbit will start eating the carrot. Pull the carrot slowly up. The rabbit will hold on tight with its teeth. Quickly pull the carrot and the rabbit to the top of the well. Samantha’s idea Put some stones into the bucket. It will go down to the bottom of the well. Climb into the well. Grab the rope and climb down. Pick up the rabbit. Hold it tightly in your left hand. Climb back up the rope. 90 A Letter to God Sharon’s idea Put a stone into the bucket at the top of the well. The bucket will go down the well. Drop a lot of stones into the well. The water in the well will come up over the rock. The rabbit will jump into the bucket to keep dry. Now pull up the bucket. Would their ideas work, If not why not? Say your answer like this : Alan’s idea wouldn’t work because........... Can you think of a better idea? At the Railway station. Prakash : Is there any train for Mumbai, please ? Enquiry Clerk : Yes, the Punjab Mail is there. Prakash : When does it leave for Mumbai ? Enquiry Clerk : 16:30, that is 4.30 in the evening. Prakash : From which platform ? Enquiry Clerk : Platform number one. Prakash : Where can I get the ticket from ? Enquiry Clerk : You can have it at the reservation counter. Prakash : Thank you. At the reservation counter Prakash : A ticket to Mumbai please, how much ? Ticket Clerk : Two hundred ten rupees, please. Prakash : Here you are. Ticket clerk : Do you have 10 rupees change. Prakash : Oh sure take it. Ticket clerk : Here’s your ticket. Prakash : Thank you. Prakash at the platform Prakash ( To a passenger) What’s the time, please ? Passenger : It’s ten past four. Prakash : Oh, just 20 minutes left. is the train on time ? A Letter to God 91 Passenger : I think so, because they haven’t announced any delay. Prakash : What time does it reach Mumbai. Passenger : 8 O’clock in the morning if it is on time. Prakash : Let’s see. Thank you. Pair Work : Practise the above dialogue Substitute railway station with bus stand taxi stand etc., make other necessary changes. gParag graph Writing graph. Essential features of a parag • A paragraph must have unity. All the sentences must devlop a single topic. • A paragraph must have coherence ie. the sentences must be arranged in a logical order. • A paragraph must have emphasis. The sentences must be so arranged that the main idea is made clear and emphasized. A system of reading for blind people was invented in 1829 by Louis Braille. The system is named Braille after its inventor. It is a six dot system. Different arrangement of one, some or all the dots stand for different letters of the alphabet. As the dots can be arranged to form a possible 63 different patterns they are used for punctuation, music and some short hand, as well as the 26 letters of the English alphabet. - Hellen Keller the Story of My life. • Write in your words the main points of the paragraph given above. • Write a short paragraph on ‘Education for the Blind.’ Go to a post office. See the postmaster. Ask him to tell you the modes for remitting money to your relatives. Find out what other modes of remitting money are available nowadays. 92 A Letter to God