Gentle, minimalistic and peaceful music composed for solo piano, this piece, together with the other pieces of the album with the same name, was inspired by Einaudi's trip to Mali, Africa.
The music uses the classic set up of left hand playing an accompanying part to the largely melodic right hand.
It describes the killing by a hunter of a hippopotamus, cherished by the inhabitants of a nearby village, and the subsequent mourning in the local village. In his liner notes, Einaudi wrote that "the song is sung as a lament for the death of a king or a great person or for the loss of a loved one." Seen under a different perspective, this music also reminds us of our mortality and how we should appreciate and cherish life.