The Simurgh Tree

Lin Chou, disciple of Chuang Tzu, tells us this story:

That day, the Master had visited Guo Xi and was despondent. We inquired why. »This Guo Xi,« said the Master, »is an expert at looking but not seeing, at listening but not hearing. When I entered his garden, I do not believe that he noticed me. He was questing about for a bird. For my part, I saw him pass several times a tree whose shape was subtly but unmistakably that of a rising peacock. I considered it a sublime example of the humor of nature, and smiled to myself.
Then I heard the tree utter a sweet, harmonious song.
Now I do not know whether the bird nature was trapped in the tree, or the tree nature was trapped in a bird.«