do you love me was a question that a young couple, who were very much in love, never had to ask each other. They were very happy together and trusted each other completely. Everyone around them could see how much in love they were. Except for the man’s best friend. The friend said to the young man: “All women are fickle and they lie. A woman may say that she is in love with you, but actually she is always on the look out for the next best guy.” The young man told his friend that he was a fool. But the friend persisted with all kinds of negative stories about relationships that had gone sour. The young man told his friend we was a pessimist and the friend finally let up.
But that night the young man kept thinking about what his friend had said. It started to drive him crazy. So he decided to set up a test. He would test his girlfriends love and prove his friend wrong. Now, it just so happened that the girl owned an exquisite antique fruit bowl that she had inherited from her grandmother. This bowl was both financially valuable and sentimentally valuable to the girl.
That night when the young couple came home from work the young man asked the girl: "Do you love me ?” “Of course I love you” :said the girl. The man said: “I believe you. But I want you to do something for me to prove your love.” The girl replied: “Anything.” The young man looked her straight in the eye and said: “If you truly love me then break that fruit bowl your grandmother gave you.” The girl was shocked and amazed, but she had said she would do anything. And so with great pain and confusion she picked up the bowl and raising it above her head smashed it to pieces on the floor.
The young man was impressed and relieved. He went to his friend the next day and told him he was an idiot. He told his friend what the girl had done. The friend shrugged it off, saying it proved nothing. But it did not matter to the young man because now he knew his girlfriend truly loved him. Now he could marry her with absolute certainty. He would never again have to ask her the question: “Do you love me?”
Time past by and the young man forgot about the incident, until one day he was chosen to play for his country’s waterpolo team. He was an exceptional striker and he could sink a goal from behind the half-way mark. When he was called with the news he ran to his girlfriend straight away and told her with incredible excitement. His girlfriend was very pleased for him.
But then she said to him: "My dear, do you love me?" The Young man said: “Of course I do. What a silly question.” The girl smiled at him mournfully: “Then I would like you to do something for me that proves your love.” The young man replied: “I will do anything, as you have done.” The girl then said: “Don’t play waterpolo for our country. Pretend that you have an injury.” The young man was crestfallen. He didn’t even try to protest. She was asking him to do what he had asked her to do.
And so he faked an arm injury and walked around with his right arm in a sling for a month. He never played waterpolo again. And although they were in love, the couple was never quite as happy as they had been before asking each other: "Do you love me ?”.
With Love and Laughter, the Adventure Learning Bards
An Adventure Learning Initiative A question to ponder: Observe the perception of love in this story. Now scan over your own life. Look at how many times you have slipped into this trap. Now, be as causal as you can be. Gently reach within yourself and see if you can discern what love really is.
