E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Pyr’amus.
The lover of Thisbë. Supposing Thisbe to be torn to pieces by a lion, he stabbed himself, and Thisbe, finding the dead body, stabbed herself also. Both fell dead under a mulberrytree, which has ever since borne bloodred fruit. Shakespeare has a travesty of this tale in his Midsummer Night’s Dream. (Ovid: Metamorphoses, bk. iv.)
