Legend - In The Beginning

In the beginning there was nothing.  Te Kore the void,
The unknown nothing
Limitless nothing.  Infinite nothing
And from nothing came night.  Te Po the night.
The long night, the black night, the night spread out.

Into the void of nothingness and night
Came a gleam of light, a speck of light
Light unknown for there was none to know
And the heavens lay upon the earth
It was the age of Te Aoeteretere noa ana
'The world floating in space'

In the darkness were Rangi, the sky father
And Papa, the earth mother, the creators
To them were born children who were Gods
All these were made by Rangi, the Great Heaven which
Stands above, and Papatuanuku, the Great Earth
Which lies below

Then rose in turn the children of Rangi and Papa
To part their parents in order for them to have light
All but one did succeed, Tanemahuta, Tane the strong,
Tane the forest, Tane the giver of light
Separated their parents so that there was light
And in that light was created all manner of things
Animate and inanimate
From one of the gods sprang man
He was the ancestor of the Maori

Within that mythical time when gods communed
With man, there arose the demi-god, Maui
among his many feats he fished up Aotearoa

It was to this land, the fish of Maui
That the Maori came.