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The more that Neaniskos wept, in fear,

pleading with tears that we should not hurt him,

the more my outrage toward him seethed and broiled,

flaming like to the torches we had brought

with us to light the way through that dark night

(I think I never saw a starless night

darker when we abducted him from Nain).

The only son of a widowed woman,

he was fourteen years old, and beautiful

to look upon:  his long hair, in profuse

soft curls cascaded almost to his waist.

Slender of frame and delicate of limb,

his facial features were more lovely than

the loveliest of girls we ever saw.

But boys like him are very much inclined

to fall in love with other boys like him.

This tendency to love in that foul way

is an abomination and affront

to all of us who dwell in Israel,

in fertile Galilee, and here in Nain.

Sometimes I looked at him, and wondered what

real carnal knowledge of that beautiful

body might have been---or felt--like; and that

made my skin crawl, and brought the taste of bile

into my throat.  And this was far too much

for me to tolerate in myself, or

in him---the cause of those disturbing thoughts,

the cause of dreams made damp with gushes of

lust.  Hell no, I would not tolerate more

of this nonsense.  I enlisted two close friends;

and at the local inn, provided wine---

the best that was available in Nain.

We talked:  we shared a mutual hatred

of queers like Neaniskos.  Men like us,

though young, like Neaniskos, would have been

glad to assist the Lord to overthrow

perverse Sodom---but that was long before

our time and far beyond our reach.  But we

were glad to satisfy our righteous wrath

on Neaniskos, our chosen victim.

At sunset, we arranged to meet him on

one of Nain's streets---happy coincidence,

or so we called it in his hearing---and

invited him to come to our party.

I do not think he lusted for us:  we

were not quite the kind toward which his lust

attracted:  he preferred others who bore

resemblance to him---those who danced, or read

love poems, or made bouquets of fresh-cut flowers.