A Maori creation myth

Included in the parcel by Lilicherie McGregor, Whangarei, New Zealand.

The legend of Creation.

Before there was light there was darkness. Still and quiet it lay; a huge void; a vast nothing with potential of all there was to be.
And the great void was profound. A limitless night. And deep in the blackness of that long night rested the creative thought, reaching away into forever, creating the earth and the sky.
Ranginui, the sky father, held Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, in a close embrace. And there they lay, deep in the darkness of that long, black night.
Many children were born to them. The children lay cramped between their mother and father, deep in the blackness, longing for the freedom to move.
Tangoara, the restless, the discontented, Tangoara, god of the oceans to be, murmured in the darkness. “Let us part our parents.”
There was a long silence. Then, with one voice, all but one brother whispered, “Are, let us part them,”
It was Tawhirimatea who did not speak. Tawhirimatea, the passionate, the caring, Tawhirimatea, god of the winds to be. The he said quietly, “They are our parents. They gave us life. Leave them as they are. Let them be.”
“And what kind of life is this for us!" argued Tangaroa, “with no space to stretch our limbs, no space to explore the unknown? Again I say, let us part them!”
The brothers quarrelled. Bitterly they quarrelled. Alone in his view, Tawhirimatea was defeated.
It was decided that Tangoara should be first to try and separate Ranginui and Papatuanuku.
Impatiently he rose up. He heaved, he pushed, he shoved… and his parents clung tightly to one another, for great was their love. Finally, exhausted, Tangaroa sat down in the darkness.
Tanemahuta, the first-born, the courageous, the strong: Tanemahuta, god of the forests to be, spoke next. “Let me try,” he said.
He lay with his shoulders pressed on his mother, and placed his feet on his father. He pushed, he pressed, he heaved and he struggled… and in the great darkness his parents lay, still bound together.
Tanemahuta the relentless, the tireless, kept pushing. He strained with every ounce of his being. “I can do it. I can do it…. I will do it!” he thought to himself.
And slowly, very slowly, Ranginui was parted from Papatuanuku. Tane kept pushing until his father was away up high.
Ranguinui wept as he looked down upon his beloved wife far below him. His tears formed the rivers, lakes and oceans. And Papatuanuku grieved for her exiled husband. The early morning mists are her silent tears.
And thus did Tanemahuta, the remarkable, the endurer, separate his parents, Ranginui, the sky Father and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother.
Light flooded into the world and for the first time the brothers looked upon their parents.
Tanemahuta then clothed his grieving parents. He dressed Papatuanuku in tall, stately trees, ferns, flowers and vines.
And Ranginui he dressed in rainbows, clouds, stars the silver moon and the golden sun.
Tawhirimatea was sad, Tawhirimatea was angry. He swirled up and away, away from his brothers, up to join his father in the sky.
And to this day he remains there aloof, for he remembers.