Chapter 1 — A Letter to God

The chapter tells the story of Lencho, a farmer whose corn crop is completely destroyed by a hailstorm. In desperation, he writes a letter directly to God asking for a hundred pesos to sow his field again. The postmaster, moved by Lencho's faith, collects money and sends seventy pesos signed as "God", but Lencho becomes angry about the shortage and accuses post office employees of stealing.

Lencho is a farmer who lives in a house on the crest of a low hill in a valley. He is described as "an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields" but still able to write. He tends a field of ripe corn that needs water to ensure a good harvest.

Lencho's corn field is completely destroyed by a hailstorm that suddenly develops after he had expected beneficial rain. The hailstones fall for an hour covering the field white "as if covered with salt". Not a single leaf remains on the trees, all corn is totally destroyed, and the flowers are gone from the plants.

After the hailstorm destroys his entire crop, Lencho writes a letter to God because he has complete faith in God. He believes "God's eyes see everything, even what is deep in one's conscience" and he needs a hundred pesos to sow his field again and feed his family until the next crop comes.

The postman himself hands the letter with money to Lencho. The postmaster collected the money from his employees and gave part of his own salary, and several friends also contributed for an act of charity. However, it was impossible to gather the full hundred pesos, so only a little more than half was sent—approximately seventy pesos.

The postmaster, described as "a fat, amiable fellow", is initially amused by the letter but then turns serious, commenting "What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter." To protect Lencho's faith in God, the postmaster decides to answer the letter himself by collecting money from his employees, giving part of his own salary, and asking friends to contribute for an act of charity.

Lencho shows no surprise when he receives money in a letter from God, such is his confidence in divine help. However, he becomes angry when he counts the money and finds only seventy pesos instead of the hundred he requested. The irony is that Lencho trusts God completely but immediately suspects the post office employees of being "a bunch of crooks" rather than doubting God's ability or willingness to help.

The story uses metaphors to describe the rain and hail: the man compares raindrops to "new coins" and "new cent pieces and fives", the large hailstones are described as "new silver coins" and "frozen pearls", creating vivid images of nature's value to the farmer. Lencho himself is described as "an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields", comparing his strength and labor to an ox.

According to the text comprehension questions, there are two kinds of conflict: between humans and nature (the destructive hailstorm destroying Lencho's crops and livelihood) and between humans themselves (the postmaster collecting money as charity, Lencho trusting God but suspecting human dishonesty at the post office).

Lencho is described as naive, unquestioning, and ungrateful. Despite his poverty, he has unwavering faith in God and believes completely that divine help will come. His character is characterized by blind faith—he trusts God absolutely and never attempts to find out who actually sent the money, instead accepting it as divine intervention while immediately suspecting human dishonesty when the amount is short.

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