In which this stepdaughter saves herself, with a little help from her friends!

 "I'm Tipingee, She's Tipingee, We're Tipingee, Too" (Haiti)

There was once a girl named Tipingee. Her father had died. She lived with her stepmother in the house her father had owned. 

The stepmother was selfish and did not like to share with Tipingee. One morning, the stepmother the fire under the stepmother’s pot went out. Tipingee was in school, so the stepmother had to go into the forest to find more firewood. 

She walked for a long time, but she did not find any wood. She continued walking. Eventually she came to a place where there was firewood everywhere. She gathered it into a bundle. But it was too heavy to lift up onto her head.  

She could not carry the wood, but she didn’t want to leave it for somebody else.  

She cried out to the forest, "There is so much wood here, and at home I have no wood. Where can I find someone who will help me carry the firewood?" 

Suddenly a very small, very old man appeared. "I will help you to carry the firewood. But then what will you give me?" 

"I have very little," the woman said, "but I will find something to give you once we get to my house." 

The old man carried the firewood for the stepmother. When they got to the house he said, "I have carried the firewood for you. Now what will you give me?" 

The stepmother saw an opportunity to rid herself of her stepdaughter. The stepmother said, "I will give you a servant girl. She is my stepdaughter. Her name is Tipingee." 

Now Tipingee was in the house, and when she heard her name she ran to the door and listened.

"Tomorrow I will send this girl to the well at noon for water. She will be wearing a blue dress. Call her by her name, Tipingee. She will come to you. Then you can take her." 

"Very well," said the man, and he went away.

Tipingee ran to her friends. She ran to the houses of all the girls in her class and asked them to wear blue dresses the next day, and to come to the village well at noon. 

At noon the next day, the old man went to the well. He saw one little girl dressed in blue. He saw a second little girl dressed in blue. He saw a third girl in blue.

"Which of you is Tipingee?" he asked. 

One girl said: "I'm Tipingee." A second girl pointed to another girl and said: "She's Tipingee." A few other girls said: "We're Tipingee, too." 

The old man was losing his patience. "Which of you is Tipingee?" he demanded. Then the girls began to clap, skip, jump up and down, and chant: “I'm Tipingee, She's Tipingee, We're Tipingee, too. I'm Tipingee, She's Tipingee, We're Tipingee, too.” 

The old man stormed off. He went to the woman and said, "You tricked me. All the girls were dressed in blue and each one said she was Tipingee." 

"That is impossible," said the stepmother. "Tomorrow Tipingee will wear a yellow dress. You will find her at the well, at noon. Just call her and take her." 

But Tipingee heard what her stepmother said and ran and begged all her friends to wear yellow dresses the next day. 

When the old man went to the well the next day, he saw one girl dressed in yellow. He saw a second girl dressed in yellow. He saw a third girl in yellow. 

"Which of you is Tipingee?" he asked. 

One girl said: "I'm Tipingee." A second girl pointed to another girl and said: "She's Tipingee." A few other girls said: "We're Tipingee, too." 

The old man was now very angry. "I am not joking", he said "Which of you is Tipingee?" 

Again the girls clapped, skipped, jumped up and down, and chanted: “I'm Tipingee, She's Tipingee, We're Tipingee, too. I'm Tipingee, She's Tipingee, We're Tipingee, too.”  

The old man went to the stepmother and said, "You promised to pay me and you are only giving me problems. You tell me Tipingee, and everyone here is Tipingee, Tipingee, Tipingee.

“If this happens a third time, I will come and take you for my servant." 

"My dear sir," said the stepmother, "tomorrow she will be in red. I will see to it. Just call her and take her." 

Tipingee ran and asked her friends to dress in red the following day.

The old man went to the well the next day.  He saw all of the girls dressed in red. He knew he would never find Tipingee.

He went to the stepmother and took her away.

When Tipingee returned home, her stepmother was gone. She was too young to live alone, so she asked some of her late father's relatives to move in.   

And they all lived happily together.