The absurdity of the human condition is represented humorously in the mock lecture of an anonymous musician on the nature and art of the double bass, its place in the orchestra, and his relationship to the instrument and his profession. The musician expresses the egocentricity of someone with a fixation on the musical instrument with which he shares his life in a love-hate relationship; an ambiguous confrontation between himself and his life is generated and remains unresolved and implicitly unresolvable.