Is there a story to this orrrr
Parables were commonplace in Chaucer's time, and audiences would have found them familiar.
The word to be used that best completes the statement would be "had been having." The word is considered at a past perfect continuous state. This state of the verb should be used when indicating an action that was continuously done in the past. Simply and the progressive tense of the verb by "had been."
Literary technique of using something to stand for or represent another idea
Odysseus speaks to Elpenor, one of his crewmen, who died after falling asleep on and falling from the roof of Circe's house.