Why Did Lencho Compare Raindrops to New Coins? Full Explanation
Lencho called the raindrops new coins because he was a farmer whose ripe cornfield needed rain for a good harvest. To him, rainfall meant money and prosperity, so each drop felt as valuable as currency big drops were like ten-cent pieces and small ones like fives.
Key Takeaways
- Reason: Lencho was a corn farmer, and his harvest and therefore his income depended entirely on rain.
- The comparison: He said the big drops were ten-cent coins and the small ones were fives, equating rain with wealth.
- Figure of speech: “Raindrops are like new coins” is a simile that symbolises prosperity and a good harvest.
- Character clue: It shows Lencho as a hopeful, hard-working farmer who reads nature in terms of his livelihood.
- The irony: Minutes later, the rain turned into a destructive hailstorm that wiped out the very crop the “coins” promised.
Who Was Lencho and Why Did Rain Matter So Much to Him?
Lencho is the central character of A Letter to God, a short story by Mexican writer G.L. Fuentes and the opening chapter of the NCERT Class 10 English textbook First Flight.
He is a poor but devoted farmer who works a field of ripe corn on a hilltop and depends on a single annual harvest to feed his family.
Throughout the morning, Lencho who knew his fields intimately watched the north-eastern sky, certain that rain was coming. For him a good shower was not just weather; it was the difference between a healthy crop and total ruin.
That is the emotional backdrop to his famous remark about the raindrops.
Why Did Lencho Say the Raindrops Were Like New Coins?
Lencho said the raindrops were like new coins because his profit depended directly on the rain. His corn was ripe and ready, but it still needed water to deliver a full, profitable harvest.
Since each drop helped his crop grow and a healthy crop meant money in his pocket he saw the falling rain as falling wealth.
In his words, These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The bigger drops, he said, were ten-cent pieces and the smaller ones were fives. The link in his mind was simple and direct: more rain meant a better harvest, and a better harvest meant prosperity for his family.
What Did Lencho Compare the Big and Small Raindrops To?
Lencho gave the comparison a precise, almost playful detail. He described the big drops as ten-cent coins and the little drops as five cent coins.
By assigning each drop a coin value, he turned the rainfall into a kind of currency raining down on his land. The table below summarises the comparisons used in the story.
In the story | Compared to | What it symbolises |
Big raindrops | Ten-cent coins | A larger share of harvest income |
Small raindrops | Five-cent coins | Smaller, steady gains for the crop |
Rainfall overall | “New coins” / wealth | Prosperity and a good corn harvest |
Hailstones (later) | Frozen pearls | Beauty turning to ruin — the story’s irony |
Is Raindrops Like New Coins a Simile or a Metaphor?
The phrase raindrops were like new coins is a simile, because it compares two different things using the word like. The comparison paints raindrops as precious and valuable, emphasising how important they were to Lencho.
The story also uses related figurative language hailstones are later called frozen pearls, and Lencho himself is described as an ox of a man to highlight his strength and resilience.
What Does the Comparison Reveal About Lencho’s Character?
The line does more than describe weather it reveals who Lencho is. It shows an optimistic, hard-working farmer who reads nature entirely through the lens of his livelihood.
His joy at the first drops reflects a person whose hopes, faith and economic survival are all tied to the soil. This same hopeful faith later drives him to write a letter to God when disaster strikes, making the new coins moment an early window into his character.
How Does the Irony of the New Coins Line Unfold?
The comparison becomes deeply ironic almost immediately. While Lencho admires his field draped in rain, a strong wind rises and large hailstones begin to fall.
Within an hour the hail flattens the corn, strips the trees and leaves the valley white as if covered with salt. The “coins he celebrated never bring wealth; instead, the storm destroys the harvest, setting up the rest of the story about faith, hope and human kindness.
Expert Insight
CBSE English educators often use this line to teach how figurative language carries theme. The new coins simile does double duty it characterises Lencho’s farmer mindset and quietly foreshadows the story’s central irony nature promising riches one moment and delivering ruin the next.
Examiners frequently ask students to identify both the literal reason (rain = harvest = money) and the symbolic one (rain = prosperity), so a strong answer mentions both.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like new coins?
Because Lencho was a farmer whose ripe corn needed rain to yield a good harvest. Since the harvest meant income, he saw each raindrop as money new coins falling from the sky, calling the big drops ten-cent pieces and the small ones fives.
What did Lencho compare the raindrops to?
He compared the raindrops to new coins. Specifically, he said the big drops were ten-cent pieces and the little ones were five-cent pieces, treating the rainfall as wealth for his crop.
Is the raindrops-as-coins comparison a simile or metaphor?
It is a simile, since it uses the word like to compare raindrops to new coins. The figure of speech highlights how valuable and precious the rain was for Lencho’s harvest.
Who wrote A Letter to God and where does this line appear?
A Letter to God was written by G.L. Fuentes. The new coins line appears in Chapter 1 of the NCERT Class 10 English textbook First Flight, just before the hailstorm destroys Lencho’s crop.
Why is the new coins comparison considered ironic?
Because soon after Lencho calls the rain new coins promising prosperity, the rain turns into a violent hailstorm that destroys his entire corn crop the opposite of the wealth he had imagined.
Sources & References
- NCERT, First Flight (Class 10 English), Chapter 1 — “A Letter to God” (official textbook PDF): https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/jeff101.pdf
- NCERT Solutions — A Letter to God, Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 1 (Vedantu): https://www.vedantu.com/ncert-solutions/ncert-solutions-class-10-english-first-flight-chapter-1-a-letter-to-god
- Chapter text — A Letter to God (SATHEE, IIT Kanpur): https://sathee.iitk.ac.in/ncert-books/class-10/nb-english/first-flight/chapter-01-a-letter-to-god/
