The Red Pony: Part I

by John Steinbeck
This novella links four episodes in the life of Jody Tiflin, a young boy growing up on a California ranch during the early 20th century.

Here are links to our lists for the novella: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Here are links to our lists for other works by John Steinbeck: Cannery Row, East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, The Pearl, Travels with Charley
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bandy
    curved outward at the knees
    He was a broad, bandy-legged little man with a walrus mustache, with square hands, puffed and muscled on the palms.
  2. contemplative
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    His eyes were a contemplative, watery gray and the hair which protruded from under his Stetson hat was spiky and weathered.
  3. weathered
    worn by exposure to the elements
    His eyes were a contemplative, watery gray and the hair which protruded from under his Stetson hat was spiky and weathered.
  4. jovial
    full of or showing high-spirited merriment
    Carl Tiflin was jovial this morning.
  5. frenzied
    excessively agitated
    After the frenzied greeting the dogs lowered their noses to the ground in a businesslike way and went ahead, looking back now and then to make sure that the boy was coming.
  6. gird
    bind with something round or circular
    Then he turned and looked back on the ranch, on the low, whitewashed house girded with red geraniums, and on the long bunkhouse by the cypress tree where Billy Buck lived alone.
  7. vicinity
    a surrounding or nearby region
    Over the hillside two big black buzzards sailed low to the ground and their shadows slipped smoothly and quickly ahead of them. Some animal had died in the vicinity.
  8. carrion
    the dead and rotting body of an animal; unfit for human food
    The buzzards overlooked nothing. Jody hated them as all decent things hate them, but they could not be hurt because they made away with carrion.
  9. disparaging
    expressive of low opinion
    “It’s just a show saddle,” Billy Buck said disparagingly. “It isn’t practical for the brush, but it was cheap at the sale.”
  10. bridle
    headgear for a horse
    He let them feel the red saddle, and showed them the brass chain throat-latch on the bridle and the big brass buttons at each temple where the headstall and brow band crossed.
  11. incipient
    only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
    Then they caught Jody’s scent, and their stiff tails rose up and waved a greeting—Doubletree Mutt with the big thick tail, and Smasher, the incipient shepherd—then went lazily back to their warm beds.
  12. angler
    a fisherman who uses a hook and line
    Billy could rope a steer, take a double half-hitch about the horn with his riata, and dismount, and his horse would play the steer as an angler plays a fish, keeping a tight rope until the steer was down or beaten.
  13. sleek
    having a smooth, gleaming surface reflecting light
    Then Jody stood and watched the pony, and he saw things he had never noticed about any other horse, the sleek, sliding flank muscles and the cords of the buttocks, which flexed like a closing fist, and the shine the sun put on the red coat.
  14. inflection
    the modification of pitch, tone, or volume when speaking
    But now he noticed the moving ears which gave expression and even inflection of expression to the face.
  15. lax
    wanting in strength or firmness or resilience
    The pony talked with his ears. You could tell exactly how he felt about everything by the way his ears pointed. Sometimes they were stiff and upright and sometimes lax and sagging.
  16. pommel
    handgrip formed by the raised front part of a saddle
    He carried his rifle across the pommel.
  17. girth
    a band around a horse's belly that holds the saddle in place
    Day by day Jody tightened the girth a little more until at last the pony didn’t mind the saddle at all.
  18. lacquer
    a hard glossy coating
    Under the constant currying and brushing his coat lay as smooth and gleaming as orange-red lacquer.
  19. reproachful
    expressing disapproval, blame, or disappointment
    Jody looked reproachfully at Billy Buck and Billy felt guilty.
    “You said it wouldn’t rain,” Jody accused him.
  20. fallible
    likely to fail or make errors
    “It’s hard to tell, this time of year,” he said, but his excuse was lame. He had no right to be fallible, and he knew it.
  21. contempt
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    Carl Tiflin hated weakness and sickness, and he held a violent contempt for helplessness.
  22. coddle
    treat with excessive indulgence
    Carl Tiflin still grumbled about weakness put into animals and men by too much coddling.
  23. flank
    the side between ribs and hipbone
    And he felt the pony’s legs and tested the heat of the flanks.
  24. muzzle
    forward projecting part of the head of certain animals
    He put his cheek against the pony’s gray muzzle and then he rolled up the eyelids to look at the eyeballs and he lifted the lips to see the gums, and he put his fingers inside his ears.
  25. withers
    the highest part of the back at the base of an animal's neck
    Then Billy found a sack and rubbed the pony’s legs violently and he rubbed the chest and the withers.
  26. brooding
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    His mother looked after him for a moment and then went quietly back to her work. Her eyes were brooding and kind.
  27. listless
    marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm
    Jody walked up to the house and took his place listlessly at the table.
  28. unkempt
    not properly maintained or cared for
    The hair lay rough and unkempt and seemed to have lost all of its old luster.
  29. luster
    the property of something that shines with reflected light
    The hair lay rough and unkempt and seemed to have lost all of its old luster.
  30. whet
    sharpen by rubbing
    He whetted the shining blade a long time on a little carborundum stone.
  31. salve
    a preparation applied externally as a soothing remedy
    He held up the head while Billy swabbed out the wound with weak carbolic acid salve.
  32. pneumonia
    a serious illness of the lungs that makes it difficult to breathe
    “I’ve seen worse ones get well. If he doesn’t get pneumonia, we’ll pull him through. You stay with him. If he gets worse, you can come and get me.”
  33. provocative
    serving or tending to excite or stimulate
    Doubletree Mutt looked into the barn, his big tail waving provocatively, and Jody was so incensed at his health that he found a hard black clod on the floor and deliberately threw it.
  34. incensed
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Doubletree Mutt looked into the barn, his big tail waving provocatively, and Jody was so incensed at his health that he found a hard black clod on the floor and deliberately threw it.
  35. gale
    a strong wind moving 34–40 knots
    He caught the lantern and ran outside into the gale, and he saw Gabilan weakly shambling away into the darkness, head down, legs working slowly and mechanically.
  36. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    Jody held the pony’s head up and the throat taut, while Billy felt up and down for the right place.
  37. dispirited
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    He was too dispirited to tell Billy how the barn door had blown open and let the pony out.
  38. perverse
    marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict
    He emerged into the wet gray morning and sloshed up to the house, taking a perverse pleasure in splashing through all the puddles.
  39. solemn
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    Doubletree Mutt sat still, as though he knew some solemn thing was happening. His big tail slapped the ground gravely.
  40. putrefy
    decay with an offensive smell
    Then the beak opened and vomited a stream of putrefied fluid.
Created on Wed Oct 03 13:04:36 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Oct 09 16:50:24 EDT 2018)

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