The Tragic Lovers

A Tale for Valentine’s Day

As it’s the month of romance; I thought a good tragedy was in order! Like the events of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, this tale has scenes unsuitable for children and upsetting for some adults. It is a myth from the poet Ovid and can be found in his work, “Metamorphoses”. It explains how the mulberry fruit became red instead of the original white.

Pyramus and Thisbe

Two young people lived next door to each other. They had played together as children but when they reached marriageable age their parents kept them apart. Pyramus and Thisbe were confused by this sudden change in attitude and tried to find ways to communicate. A small gap in the wall that joined their properties was found. They could not see or touch but they could whisper.

After some time, they agreed to runaway so that night, they would meet at the tomb near a spring and a mulberry tree.

Thisbe arrived first but was startled away as a lioness approached. She left her veil behind. The lioness explored the veil’s scent and inadvertently stained it with the blood of her latest kill.

Pyramus only saw the pawprints and the veil when he reached the mulberry tree. Believing he could have saved Thisbe from being mauled by the lion, he drew his sword and drove it into himself.

Brave Thisbe returned, keen to meet her Pyramus. She saw the unusual red fruit on the mulberry tree. With horror, she saw the blood and found her love’s body.

Distraught, she took Pyramus’s sword and thrust it into herself, praying that their parents would at least let them share a grave together. Their blood drained into the roots of the mulberry tree and from that time on it’s berries were always red.

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