Regarding the opening "ridicolosamente," it differs from "rigorosamente." The latter means "precisely, strictly." "Ridicolosamente" is translated as "ridiculously" in English, which can be interpreted as "absurdly" or "foolishly." Prokofiev's music sometimes depicts "clowns" or "jesters," and thus "ridicolosamente" can be appropriately interpreted as depicting something "absurd" or "foolish" in a clown-like manner. Listening to his own recordings (Prokofiev's own recordings), the tempo fluctuates considerably. This might be depicting a clown who cannot walk precisely. Furthermore, a "sostenuto" marking is written from the beginning. It can be inferred that this indicates sustaining notes for a longer duration, such as the F in the melody line of measure 3, or the F in the melody line of measure 7. From measures 14 to 16, there is a slight accelerando towards the final melodic D in measure 16. Conversely, from measures 18 to 20, the tempo slackens slightly.