The Tartars have found out a way of praying without any trouble; and it is a way that suits idols very well. They get some prayers written, and place them in a drum, and then turn the drum round and round with a string. This they call praying; and while they are thus praying, they can be chattering, smoking, and even quarrelling. The princes have a still easier way of offering up prayers. They write prayers upon a flag, and then place it before their tents for the wind to blow it about.
This is their way of praying to their gods.
And what, my dear child, is your way of praying to your God?
Have missionaries visited the Tartars?
Yes; I will tell you of two German missionaries, who tried to convert a tribe of Tartars called the Kalmucks, living near the Caspian Sea and the river Volga. These good men were treated with great contempt by the Tartars. The missionaries translated the Gospel of St. Matthew into the Tartar language. One of the Tartars, instead of thanking them, observed, "I wonder you should take so much trouble to prepare a book that we shall never read." When the precious books were given to the Tartars, some of them returned the books; and when it was read to them, they scornfully said, as they turned away, "It is only the history of Jesus."
At last one Tartar, named Sodnom, believed in Jesus. He said to the missionaries, "Now the Tartars, from my example, may turn to the Lord: for as, when sheep are to be washed, each is afraid to enter the water till one has been in, so it may be with my countrymen."
Sodnom read every evening in the Testament to his family in the tent. At first his wife was displeased, and said that her husband wasted the fire-wood in making a light to read a book that was of no use. But afterwards she listened, and made the children keep quiet. The neighbors also listened, and twenty-two turned to the Lord!
Then the prince and the priests grew angry, and said the Christians must leave the camp. Where could the Christians go? There was a village called Sarepta, where some Germans lived. There they determined to go, though it was two hundred miles off. One of the missionaries led the way on horseback; the Tartars followed on foot: then came camels bearing the tents and the women, while a bullock-cart contained the young children. The flocks and herds were driven by the bigger children.
The good Germans in Sarepta received the Tartars with great joy. One gray-headed man of eighty-three came to meet them, leaning upon his staff. He said he had been praying that he might see a Christian Tartar before he died. He heard these Tartars sing hymns to the praise of Jesus, and he felt his prayers were answered. Two days afterwards he died. Like old Simeon, he might have said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."
The Christians went to live in a small island in the river Volga. When the river was frozen, the Germans went over the ice to visit them. Sodnom gave them tea mixed with fat in a large wooden bowl; and to please him, the kind Germans drank some, though they did not like it. Many Tartars assembled in Sodnom's tent, and seated on the ground smoking their pipes, talked together about heavenly things; and before they parted, they put away their pipes, and folding their hands, sang hymns in their own language. The Germans, in taking leave, divided a large loaf among the company; for bread is considered quite a dainty by the Tartars.