Robin Hood led the newly-formed Merry Men through Sherwood Forest. So far they were fairly merry. The Men had not yet robbed many of the rich nor handed over the proceeds to the poor. They were just out for a day of walking, of trying to locate the best place in the shady forest to serve as their base. Ahead was a brook. Or was it a stream? English vocabulary in those days was beginning to separate ‘creek’ from ‘stream’ from ‘rivulet’…

Then came the booming voice…

“LET THE BETTER MAN PASS ON THIS WATERCOURSE.”

“Did you say watercourse?”

Robin couldn’t believe the synonym.

“OF COURSE I SAID WATERCOURSE!”

There stood the 7-foot giant, John Little, blocking the way.

None of the Merry Men had ever seen anything like John Little. They hoped he was not one of the rich they needed to rob.
The call went up – ‘Robin, get that guy out of the way.’

So the contest began between Robin Hood, who grabbed a tree branch, and John Little with his fearsome staff. It wasn’t really a fair fight, as the hulking giant clobbered Robin in the head.

An hour after he finally came to, Robin decided that ‘Little John’ – confused, he mixed the name – should definitely be a member of the Merry Men.

When it came to robbing from the rich, he wanted a giant on his side. Because the rich don’t like to be held up and have the Sheriff and the law on their side, no matter how sleazy that may be.

And when it comes to having your brains bashed out, Robin realized – it was a 1-trial education – it’s better to be the clobber than the clobbered.

Yes, having Little John amongst them made the Merry Men merrier as they thought about robbing from the rich – although they weren’t overly-enthusiastic about giving to the poor.