funny turtle

It's a characteristic Steinbeckian repetition . . . the second (long) paragraph of the chapter has "His horny beak was partly open, and his fierce, humorous eyes, under brows like fingernails, stared straight ahead . . . " followed by " . . . the old humorous frowning eyes looked about . . . " in the third paragraph, and then "The old humorous eyes looked ahead . . . " in the fourth.  (The chapter has only four long paragraphs.)

Of course, any subtle expression in a turtle's eyes might be ascribed to a writer's stretching rather than a reptile's emoting.

I haven't taught Steinbeck in several years.  He's a lot of fun, though of course the kids find him old-fashioned.

Joe