E. LET’S UNDERSTAND THE TEXT
1) Where did Lencho live?
Ans: Lencho lived in a house located on the crest of a low hill where anyone can see the river and the corn field.
2) What did he hope for?
Ans: Lencho hopes for a downpour or at least a shower of rain for his cornfields.
3) What did he say about the raindrops?
Ans: He said that the raindrops were new coins. The big raindrops were ten cent and the small one were five cent of pieces.
4) How did the rain change?
Ans: The rain changed when suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall.
5) What happened to Lencho’s corn fields?
Ans: Lencho’s corn fields were covered with hailstones. They looked white as if covered with salt.
6) Who did Lencho have faith in?
Ans: Lencho had faith in Almighty God, whose eyes see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.
7) Who did he write a letter to?
Ans: He wrote a letter to God.
8) Who read the letter?
Ans: The postmaster read the letter.
9) What did the postmaster do?
Ans: He asked for money from his employees, he himself gave part of his salary and also asked his friend to contribute something for an act of charity. Finally, he collected a little more than half of a hundred pesos, put it in an envelope addressed to Lencho with sender as a single word ‘God’.
10) Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Ans: No, he was not surprised after receiving a letter with money from God.
11) What was Lencho’s reaction after getting the letter?
Ans: On getting the letter Lencho showed no surprise. But when he opened the envelope, and counted the money, he became angry. He felt that God couldn’t have made a mistake, nor could he have denied him what he had requested.
F. LET’S READ BETWEEN THE LINES
a)
(i) Why did Lencho keep on looking at the sky throughout the morning?
Ans: Lencho was a good farmer and he knew his field very well. He found that his cornfields were badly in need of water. Therefore, he keep on looking at the sky throughout the morning.
(ii) Why was the field white after the storm?
Ans: There was a storm along with heavy fall of hailstones in that area. So, the field was covered with that hailstones and looks white colour after the storm.
(iii) Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Ans: Lencho said that the raindrops were like new coins because his corn fields were badly in need of rain. As the rain started to fall, with happiness Lencho said that they were like new coins.
(iv) Why did Lencho prefer locusts to the storm?
Ans: Lencho preferred locusts to the storm because locusts would not have caused so much destruction as the storm did, which had totally destroyed the storm.
(v) Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why / Why not?
Ans: Lencho did not try to find out who had sent him the money because he was confident that God would certainly respond to his plea for help.
(vi) What would be the reaction of the post office employees when they read the second letter?
Ans: Lencho’s second letter was full of accusations against the post office employees. They were considered a bunch of crooks by Lencho. If they had read the letter, they would have reacted sharply and would have strongly condemned Lencho. (condemn: ନିନ୍ଦା କରିବା)
b) Read the passage from the text and answer the questions that follow:
All through the night —————————————— act of charity. (Five paragraphs)
(i) Who does Lencho have complete faith in?
Ans: Lencho has complete faith on God.
(ii) ‘Lencho was an ox of a man’ – what does the line mean?
Ans: Lencho was an ox of a man, the meaning of this line indicates that Lencho is a hard working person (labourious).
(iii) What was the postmaster like?
Ans: The postmaster is a fat, amiable person, always in happy mood.
(iv) Why did the postmaster send money to Lencho?
Ans: The postmaster was surprised in Lencho’s faith on God. So in order not to shake the faith on God, he arranged and sent money to Lencho.
(v) What does the expression ‘an act of charity’ mean?
Ans: An act of charity is the act of giving money or help to people who are in need.
G. Let’s learn some new words:
(i) Look at the following sentence from the story. But 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’. We 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. Try to match the names in the box with their descriptions below, and fill in the blanks. You may take the help of a dictionary.
gale, whirlwind, cyclone hurricane, tornado, typhoon
1. A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: _ _ C _ _ _ _
2. An extremely strong wind : ___ a ___ ___
3. A violent tropical storm with very strong winds : __ __ p __ __ __
4. A violent storm with strong winds, especially in the Western Atlantic Ocean : __ __ r __ __ __ __ __ __
5. A violent storm whose centre is a cloud in the shape of a funnel : __ __ __ n __ __ __
6. A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage : __ __ __ __ l __ __ __ __
(ii) Mark how the word ‘hope’ is used in these sentences from the story.
a. I hope it (the hailstorm) passes quickly
b. There was a single hope : help from God.
In sentence ‘a’, hope is used as a verb which means you wish for something to happen.
In sentence ‘b’ it is a noun meaning a chance for something to happen.