The conspirators cut great poles with which to prop up Heaven.

But the father and mother were not to be easily separated.
They clung to each other despite the efforts of their unnatural sons.
Then Tane, the tree-god, standing on head and hands, placed his feet against Heaven and, pushing hard, forced Rangi upwards.

In that attitude the trees, the children of Tane, remain to this day.

Thus was the separation accomplished, and Rangi and Papa must for ever remain asunder.

Yet the tears of Heaven still trickle down and fall as dew-drops upon the face of his spouse, and the mists that rise in the evening from her bosom are the sighs of regret which she sends up to her husband on high.[1] [Footnote 1: Sir George Grey, _Polynesian Mythology_.] Vengeance, however, fell upon the conspirators.