NovelGuide: The Canterbury Tales: Novel Summary: The Prioress' tale

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The Prioress' tale

In Asia, in a Christian city, an evil Jewish area existed.  A Christian schoolboy, eager to learn more about Christ, asks an older student about a song that he didn't understand.  The song was similar to the Hail Mary, and the young boy learned it perfectly.  The boy would sing it every day coming home from school, and passing the Jewish area of town.  One day, some people who lived there murdered him and slit his throat.  The boy's mother desperately searched for him with no help from the Jews.  She found him, but he had been saved by a miracle.  His throat was cut, but he could still sing, and he tells a story that the Virgin Mary placed a pearl on his tongue so that he could live for a while longer and convey this miracle.  When the pearl leaves, he dies and is taken to heaven.