Free The Gay Icon Classics of the World by Robert Joseph Greene

them out. Travelling many miles through his trampled fields to gather the necessary plants and flowers, after many long hours, Halo had gathered enough for a wreath that signified his bond with the harpist. He then journeyed back to the feast of his father, which was drawing to its end. Grabbing the harper’s hand, he lead him to a small clearing near his fields, a small area just out of sight of the feast. After encircling the harper and himself in the wreath, he and the harper lay beside each other. So exhausted from his journey to gather flowers for the wreath, Halo quickly fell asleep, forgetting God’s last command to kiss the harpist.
    Meanwhile, Marr’s anger continued to grow. Although his father had heaped praises upon him at the feast, the harpist never uttered one word of praise. And now, as Marr looked around, he noticed the absence of both the harpist, and his brother, whose defeat he had wanted to gloat over. Marr left the feast in search of his brother, suspecting that he had taken the harpist from the feast to deprive Marr of being praised,being spiteful in defeat. Marr’s wife, Aliesha, thinking that Marr sought to harm his brother, secretly followed her husband. Before long, Marr reached the small clearing, where he found Halo and the harpist, lying in a fast embrace, surrounded by a beautiful assortment of flowers. Suddenly overcome with rage, Marr unsheathed his sword and slew both Halo and the harpist where they lay. In a final outburst of anger, Marr kicked both bodies until their battered forms both lay outside the golden circle of the wreath.
    While Marr approached the slumbering couple, Aleisha took shelter behind a tree, from which she might see what was happening. Before being able to react, her husband had attacked the pair with his murderous sword. Marr swiftly departed after his fratricide, and Aleisha went down to the clearing, and picking up each body tenderly, she gently placed them back inside the golden circle, the symbol of their love. God, seeing the misfortunes of Halo and taking pity on him, lifted up both bodies, granting the loving pair holy ascension into the kingdom of heaven.
    In the time following Halo’s ascension, his fields lay barren. With the fields producing no food, the beasts of Marr soon withered, starved, and died. Niac saw the desert that had become his estate, and asked his son’s wife, “where is Halo?” Aliesha made no reply. Niac then turned his eyes upward, asking God why his lands suffered so. God answered, now through the voice of his blessed angel Halo. Halo said, “father, seek no further than your own son.” Niac, seeing that his beloved son was no longer among the living, eagerly sought his second son, Marr. Upon confronting Marr, Niac called upon his second son to tell him what has happened to his son, calling God to bear witness to Marr’s testimony.
    With this invocation, Halo once again descended from the heavens, and Marr confessed to all that he had done. Aleisha, who was near, also pleaded with Niac to forgive her for the sin of her unwillingness to help Halo and her silence concerning his death. Both Marr and Aleisha were banished from Niac’s estate, and were made to work distant fields that were perpetually barren. Following this banishment, the beasts of Marr faced drought, disease and starvation for what they had done to Halo’s fields.
    And to Halo, because he forgot God’s last command to kiss his lover before sleeping, ensured that no union existed between two men on earth. Such love was left only for the heavens.