Pyramus and Thisbe

Thisbe was a maiden of Babylon, who was beloved by Pyramus, a Babylonian youth. They lived in adjoining houses and conversed through a hole in the wall. Not being allowed to meet, they contrived a meeting at the tomb of Ninus; Thisbe arrived first, and being frightened by a lioness, dropped her mantle, which the lioness stained with blood. Pyramus arriving believed her to be killed and slew himself. A white mulberry tree growing there afterwards bore fruit as red as blood. The "tedious brief scene: and "very tragical mirth" presented by the rustics in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream is a travesty of this legend. "The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe." (Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream (ii (II)).