In ‘Kin: The Good Neighbours’ by Holly Black, Aubrey the faerie father tests the human Thaddeus on his love for his daughter Nia by asking him to pick her among her three other similar-looking sisters. In truth, Thaddeus only had superficial understanding of Nia, as he was mostly entranced only by her appearance. He should had realised this, and declined to ‘guess’ which was Nia, since he didn’t really deserve her hand in that sense.
However, in the nick of time, a friend hinted to him to look at the sisters’ feet. As Nia had danced with Thaddeus, her feet were muddy. Pointing at her, Thaddeus ‘guessed’ correctly. Along this line, I think this is a good test of how mindful we are of those we think we know and care about – even though Thaddeus was still judging only by appearances (of mud on her feet) – but you get the idea. If we imagine we really know someone inside-out, would we be able to discern this person… from not just any crowd, but a crowd of ‘clones’? How deep (or shallow) is your love (or infatuation)?
Beauty is only skin deep,
and the skin is not very deep.
– Stonepeace
[ad#kin]
If to discern our love one by just appearance in a crowd of ‘clones’, its never easy, nor is it fair at all. So how does the depth of one’s love or infatuation matters here?
If one really cared for another, one would understand the person so well that that person would stand out from any crowd… perhaps 😉
I’ve seen a mother who’s able to tell her identical twins apart from their backs (not from their face). Guess it’s this kind of love perhaps.
Love is understanding the person inside out!
:))