...Chaucer calls the little boy's mother " this newe Rachel," 10 alluding of course to Matthew 2. 18: Vox in Rama audita est ploratus, et ululatus multus:...plorans filios suos, et noluit consolari, quia non sunt. This verse is the conclusion of the Gospel read in the Mass on the Feast of the Holy Innocents (December...