The carpenter replied: 'Forget it — say no more! It's worthless timber. Make a boat from it and it will sink; make a coffin and it will rot quickly; make a tool and it will break; make a door and it will ooze sap; make a pillar and it will be eaten by worms. This wood is useless, good for nothing. That's why it has lived so long.' When Carpenter Shi returned home, the shrine oak appeared to him in a dream and said: 'What will you compare me with?'