"My God, to thee alone I pray,
Whose savour is as passing sweet
As only choicest herbs display,
Thy blessing daily I entreat.
Thou hearest when I pray to thee,
And listenest in thy clemency.
Lord of the powers of the air,
To thee I raise my daily prayer."
--HOLLIS, _The Masai_, p. 346.
When Professor Tylor says that by the savage "the accomplishment of
desire is asked for, but desire is as yet limited to personal
advantage," we must be careful not to infer that the only advantage a
savage is capable of praying for is his own selfish advantage.
Professor Tylor himself quotes (II, {145} 366) the following prayer
from the war-song of a Delaware:--
"O Great Spirit there above,
Have pity on my children
And my wife!
Prevent that they shall mourn for me!
Let me succeed in this undertaking,
That I may slay my enemy
And bring home the tokens of victory
To my dear family and my friends
That we may rejoice together....
Have pity on me and protect my life,
And I will bring thee an offering."
Nor is it exclusively for their own personal advantage that the Masai
women are concerned when they pray for the safe return of their sons
from the wars:--
"O thou who gavest, thou to whom we pray
For offspring, take not now thy gift away.
O morning star, that shinest from afar,
Bring back our sons in safety from the war."
--HOLLIS, p. 351.
Nor is it in a purely selfish spirit that the Masai women pray that
their warriors may have the advantage over all their enemies:--
I
"O God of battles, break
The power of the foe.
{146}
Their cattle may we take,
Their mightiest lay low.