The Gift

"The Gift" is a story in John Steinbeck's novella The Red Pony, set on a small ranch in the Salinas Valley of California.

The story opens at daybreak on the Tiflin ranch, where Billy Buck, the broad, bandy-legged ranch hand, tends to the saddle horses before breakfast. The iron triangle, a metal instrument used to call the household to meals, wakes ten-year-old Jody Tiflin, a shy, polite boy with dusty yellow hair and grey eyes. After breakfast, Jody's father, Carl Tiflin, a tall, stern disciplinarian, rides out with Billy to sell six old milk cows in the nearby town of Salinas. Left behind, Jody wanders the ranch and climbs to the cold spring at the brush line, sensing an uncertain feeling of change. Two black buzzards sail low overhead, drawn by some dead animal; Jody hates them but knows they serve a purpose by disposing of carrion.

Jody goes through an ordinary school day and returns to do his chores. The narrative notes that nearly all of Carl's gifts come with reservations that limit their value. Carl and Billy return after dark smelling of brandy. Jody senses his father has news, but Carl only tells the boy to go to bed early because he will be needed in the morning. Lying awake, Jody overhears his father tell his mother, Ruth, that he "didn't give much for him," hinting at a purchase.

The next morning, Carl and Billy lead Jody to the barn. In the box stall stands a red pony colt with tense, forward ears and a rough, thick coat. Carl warns that he will sell the pony if Jody neglects it. Jody, barely able to speak, asks if the pony is his. When he reaches out, the colt bites his fingers, and Jody responds with shy pride. Carl, embarrassed by the emotional moment, walks away, while Billy stays and explains that they bought the colt cheaply at a sheriff's auction, along with a small red morocco leather show saddle. Jody names the pony Gabilan, after the nearby Gabilan Mountains. Billy notes the word means "hawk" and offers to braid a hair rope for a hackamore, a type of bitless bridle, if Jody collects tail hair.

That afternoon, six schoolboys stand in awe before the pony, instinctively recognizing the ancient superiority of the horseman over the person on foot. Jody is relieved when they leave and curries Gabilan alone until the coat gleams a deep red. His mother finds him in the barn, having forgotten his chores, but feels a curious pride in his devotion. Jody begins waking before dawn to visit Gabilan, torturing himself with small imagined fears that the pony will not be in his stall. Billy, often in the barn early, teaches Jody about horses: that they fear for their feet, love conversation, and respond well when told the reason for things.

In early fall, formal training begins. Halter-breaking comes first; long-halter work follows, and Gabilan learns to walk, trot, gallop in a circle, and stop on command. Carl grows uneasy that Gabilan is becoming a "trick pony" and tells Jody to start saddling the colt. The process is a struggle: Gabilan bucks the saddle off repeatedly, and the bridle requires a stick of licorice to accustom him to a bit. Billy explains that they avoid force-breaking because it would make the horse fearful. Jody dreams anxiously about the first ride, fearing he will be thrown and lack the courage to remount.

Carl estimates Gabilan will be ready to ride by Thanksgiving, three weeks away. Winter arrives with a week of steady rain, and Jody keeps the pony sheltered in the box stall. When the sun finally returns, Jody asks Billy if he can leave Gabilan in the corral during school. Billy assures him it will not rain and promises to put the pony in if the weather changes, though he qualifies this by noting that he and Carl may not get back in time from their work on the hill.

Billy's prediction fails. Rain pours down shortly after noon. Jody hears it on the schoolhouse roof but trusts Billy and stays. After school, he hurries home to find Gabilan standing miserably in the corral, his red coat nearly black with water. Jody leads him into the barn and rubs him dry. Billy and Carl arrive late, having sheltered at a neighbor's place. Jody accuses Billy of being wrong, and Billy, feeling guilty, acknowledges his mistake. Carl lectures Jody that a horse is not a "lap-dog kind of thing" (43). That night, Billy examines the pony, gives him a rubdown, and covers him with a comforter. Jody's mother tries to reassure him, calling Billy as good as any horse doctor in the country.

The next morning, Jody runs to the barn and hears a hollow rasping cough. The pony's eyes are crusted, his ears hang sideways, and fluid runs from his nostrils. Billy insists Jody go to school and promises not to leave, feeling he must cure Gabilan to make up for his failure. When Jody returns, the pony is worse. Billy guides Jody's fingers to a large lump under the jaw and identifies the illness as strangles, a contagious bacterial infection of the upper respiratory tract in horses. He prepares a steaming bag of medicated vapors that temporarily clears the nasal passages and sleeps in the barn that night.

The next morning, Billy lances the abscess, and yellow pus drains out while Jody holds the pony's head. Billy admits the pony is very sick and warns that pneumonia could be fatal. Jody moves his bedding to the barn. That night, the wind blows the barn door open, and Jody wakes to find Gabilan gone. He catches the pony shambling into the darkness and leads him back. At dawn, Billy tells Jody he must cut a hole in the windpipe because the nasal passages are completely blocked. Jody holds the pony steady while Billy cuts a round opening. The pony's breath bursts through in a spray of blood before Billy swabs the wound with carbolic salve.

Rain starts again. Jody keeps the breathing hole open all morning with a cotton swab. Carl comes to the barn and urges Jody to leave, but Billy angrily defends the boy's right to stay. At noon, the pony lies down on his side. The sky clears, and the ranch feels "curiously changed" (59) to Jody. He notices how dry and dead the pony's hair looks, a sign he recognizes from dying animals, and accepts that there is no hope. His mother brings stew at dark. Jody eats little, sets the lantern by Gabilan's head, and dozes through the night as the pony's breathing grows quiet.

At daylight, the barn door stands open and the pony is gone. Jody follows the dragging hoofprints through frosty dew toward the brush line. He looks up to see a circle of black buzzards dropping lower and disappearing over the ridge. Panic and rage drive him forward. From the top of the ridge, he spots Gabilan below in a small clearing, legs moving convulsively, buzzards standing in a ring around him. By the time Jody reaches the clearing, the pony is dead, and a buzzard sits on Gabilan's head. Jody charges into the circle and catches the big bird by its wing. The buzzard clubs his face and claws his leg, but Jody forces it to the ground, finds a piece of sharp white quartz, and beats the bird's head to a red pulp, continuing to strike long after it is dead.

Billy Buck pulls Jody off and holds him tightly. Carl Tiflin wipes the blood from the boy's face with a red bandana and tells him that the buzzard did not kill the pony. Jody answers wearily that he knows. Billy, carrying Jody in his arms, turns furiously on Carl, insisting that of course the boy knows and demanding that Carl recognize the depth of Jody's grief (64).