"The Canterbury Pilgrims" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  A young couple are leaving Canterbury Shaker Village to get married, and a band of travelers meet them at a well on the way to the sanctuary of the Shakers.  Each group tries to convince the others to turn back. While the two lovers speak of their hopes for the future, the others of their disappointments. Will their life stories affect the two lovers’ resolve? Who will win out? The Shaker community or the world?