He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

In this quote, a person is trying not to look too long at someone else, perhaps because of shyness or embarrassment. The person is imagining that the other person is like the sun – too strong and powerful to look at directly. Despite trying not to look, the person still sees the other person like the sun, even when they are not looking at them directly.