A minor, 4/4 time. The opening instruction is "quite slowly, quietly." It is written in three voices and has an ABB form. Scheherazade is the name of a woman who appears in The Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights). Once upon a time, a king, cursed all women due to his beloved queen's infidelity. As an act of revenge, he would take a new queen every day, spend a night with her, and then have her killed. The beautiful Scheherazade became one of these queens. However, she entertained the king with captivating stories every night, ultimately preserving her life for a thousand and one nights and becoming his permanent queen. One wonders if Schumann also told stories to his children.