Pyramus and Thisbe

I watched them every night. They always met at the wall between their houses. He would arrive first, that handsome dark-haired young man. A few minutes later, she appeared on her side of the wall. There they would stand almost all night long. They had found a crack in the marble barrier and there they whispered sweet words of love to each other.

I had witnessed their devotion for a long time. The young woman was a striking beauty with pale skin and long, flowing red hair. Her slim fingers caressed the cold wall as though she could reach her lover's face. I soon learned her name was Thisbe and her beau's was Pyramus.

The moon had not yet risen when they were at the wall again. I observed them from my usual place atop the hill that overlooked the two houses.

Pyramus spoke first, "Are you there, my love?"

"Yes, darling! I have counted the hours until I could speak with you again! I thought the night would never arrive", she whispered feverently to him.

I saw him smile sadly in the darkness at her words. "It is a dreadful situation such as ours, dear Thisbe. Our parents will never approve of our union in marriage. We have been cursed by the gods!" he cried in despair.

"Do not say such things, sweet Pyramus! I have a plan that we may escape our plight", she said with hope in her voice.

My ears perked up at this. I was drawn to their tragic affair like a moth to the flame. It had become an obsession of mine to witness their trysts at the wall every night. I was a shameless voyeur and I knew it. Now Thisbe had formulated a plan? I listened intently to her.

"We shall meet outside the town tomorrow night under the great mulberry tree. You are familiar with the one by the East Gate?" she asked.

"Yes, I know of that tree! Shall we meet by moonlight then?" he queried in excitement. His face was lit with joy.

"Certainly we shall! And you will know me by the veil I wear. You do remember, don't you?"

"How could I forget my only present to you? It is the same veil I bought for you on your birthday, dear Thisbe!"

I remembered that veil, too. He had tied it around a small stone and threw it over the wall to her. She wore it every night after that.

They continued on with their conversation for the rest of the night. The sun was just beginning to lighten the sky in the east when they finally said their farewells and kissed the marble wall one last time.

Quietly, I withdrew from the hill into the forest. I planned to watch them meet that night at the gate. Tired now, I made my way back home to sleep the rest of the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I awoke in the late afternoon and broke my fast with a meal of deer. Stomach full, I headed through the woods around the small town. The East Gate was an almost forgotten entrance. It was overgrown by shrubs and vines. There were no guards that evening, in fact.

The great mulberry tree was an ancient one. It had been there as long as the village itself. Its great limbs spread out far, nearly dipping to the ground in areas. Bunches of white fruit clung to its branches, making the air cloyingly sweet. It was a perfect place for lovers to meet.

I decided to climb into the lower boughs so that I could observe my favorite star-crossed couple from above. The moon was full that night. It rose low over the horizon and lit the landscape with its lunar glow.

I heard footsteps approaching the tree. Looking down, I could see the beautiful Thisbe drawing closer. She appeared nervous and excited. She wore her blue wispy veil over her flaming-red tresses, as promised.

"Pyramus?" she called softly.

My weight shifted suddenly, causing the tree to shudder lightly. I gained my footing but Thisbe looked up and saw me.

"A lioness!" she cried out in fear. She turned and fled.

My heart wrenched in despair as I watched her go. Her veil fluttered to the ground. In her haste, she'd dropped it.

I jumped down out of the tree and padded over to it. I could smell her sweet innocence on it. I picked it up with my teeth, but it snagged on a fallen branch, ripping in the process. I was going to try to keep it as a token to remember her by but it was stuck fast. I only managed to tear it worse.

There were sounds of someone approaching again so I simply dropped the veil. I sprung back to hide in the mulberry tree.

Pyramus had arrived, looking for his love.

"Thisbe? Are you here, my darling?" he called quietly.

I saw him look around the tree. It didn't take him long to spot her veil lying torn on the ground. My tracks were all around it.

He sank down onto his knees. I heard him sobbing softly. It filled me with such sadness to hear him weep.

"Thisbe! My Thisbe! You've been killed by some horrid wild beast! We shall never meet in this life!" he wailed to himself. He covered his face with his hands, still clasping the shreds of fabric.

"Oh, why, do the gods torment us so? Why?!" he cried in frustration. What he did next, I shall never forget.

He pulled his sword from its scabbard and plunged it into his abdomen. I watched in horror as his life's blood ebbed away from him.

"Thisbe..."

Her name was the last to leave his lips. My heart was breaking and I nearly left my perch to comfort him in his last moments.

But fate had dealt a cruel hand that night. Thisbe was coming back! I heard her cautious footfalls grow closer. I could smell her fear and confusion.

"Pyramus? Is that you?" she asked softly, her voice shaky with apprehension.

She soon saw him lying there on the cold earth and flew to his side.

"Dear Pyramus! Why?! Did you think me dead? Oh, my Pyramus!" she sobbed. Tears flowed unchecked down her pale face in the moonlight. She sat there, cradling his head in her lap for quite some time. I knew she was overwhelmed by her grief.

"It appears our families were right after all, sweet Pyramus. Our love was not meant to be", she said at last. She bent and kissed his cold, dead lips one last time.

Then she carefully reached over to his sword. Taking the hilt with both slim hands, she pulled it free of his body.

She said nothing as she drove it sharply into herself.

I looked on as her corpse fell over his beneath that mulberry tree. Their blood flowed together across the ground, mingling as it seeped into the bark.

I ached inside for both of them. If I could have shed tears, my face would have been wet with them. Such a tragic ending to their innocent affair.

I finally leaped down from my perch. I stayed with their bodies for a while, there in the moonlight. Then, sometime near dawn, I took Thisbe's torn veil with me as a memento as I left. I turned and for one final time, looked back at them. It was then I noticed in the pale light of dawn that all of the white mulberries on the tree had turned red.

They remain the same color to this day.