The prayer proper should be the same in every dairy, but it seemed to me that there was a good deal of laxity as regards this portion, and there is no doubt that it is often slurred over hastily and is less strictly regulated than the preliminary portion of the prayer.
The following is the most generally accepted form:
Tânenmâ; may it be well
or
may be blessed; târmâmâ; may it be well
or
may be merciful; îr kark tânenmâ; with the buffaloes and calves may it be well; nûv ârk mâ; may there be no disease; kazun ârk mâ; may there be no destroyer; nudri ârk mâ; may there be no poisonous animals (snakes and insects); kâvel ârk mâ; may there be no wild beasts (tigers, &c.); per kârt pâ mâ; may be kept from (falling down) steep hills; pustht kârt pâ mâ; may be kept from floods; tüt ârk mâ; may there be no fire; mâ un mâ; may rain fall; maj eu mâ; may clouds rise; pul pûv mâ; may grass flourish; nîr ûr mâ. may water spring.
The prayer then concludes with the names of two of the most important gods or objects of reverence, followed by the words:
âtham them idith for the sake of emk for (or to) us tânenmâ. may it be well.
There does not seem to be any strict regulation as to the clauses of the prayer, and in different versions some of the [[216]]given above were omitted, while others were added, especially requests for protection against special animals, as pob ârk mâ, “may there be no snakes,” and pîrzi ârk mâ, “may there be no tigers.” One man concluded with the words erdâdrsink erdâdri ini, “I know half to pray, I know not half to pray,”[1] but I do not know whether this was an individual peculiarity or a special feature of the prayer of his dairy.
It seemed clear that the whole prayer referred to the buffaloes. It may be summarised as follows:
“May it be well with the buffaloes, may they not suffer from disease or die, may they be kept from poisonous animals and from wild beasts and from injury by flood or fire, may there be water and grass in plenty.”
The first part of the prayer contains a number of clauses each of which usually consists of the name of an object of reverence followed by the word idith (often contracted into ith). This word is said to mean “for the sake of,” so that the prayer as a whole seems to consist of clauses mentioning a number of objects of reverence for the sake of which the prayer is said, followed by the prayer consisting of clauses directed to avert evils or bring blessings on the buffaloes of the dairy. The word idith is used in the sense of “for the sake of” in ordinary language. Thus, “for my sake, leave him,” would be “en idith, an pidr” (me for the sake of, him leave).
The objects of more or less sanctity thus mentioned in the prayer are not called by their usual names, but are referred to by means of special names to which the general term of kwarzam is given. In some cases the kwarzam differs little from the ordinary name, while in other cases it bears no resemblance to it.