This Januarie, who is glad but he?
He kisseth hire and clippeth hire ful ofte,
And on hire wombe he stroketh hire ful softe,
And to his palays hoom he hath hire lad.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale. May persuades January that his sight is faulty and he did not see Damian having sex with her up the fruit tree. Going along with her deception and deciding to fool himself and keep his illusion, January kisses the adulterous May and takes her home to his palace. When he strokes her softly on her womb, this suggests that May is pregnant. This passage is hugely ironic, because January is completely unaware of the way that he has been tricked and is ignorantly blissful.