Tonight, however, I was clearing out a bunch of stuff from my hard drive and came upon the original text of this story and found that, after rereading it, I emitted a devilish little laugh. I think, perhaps, it has an underlying "thing" that speaks to trust and whatever but, honestly, I just like the fact that it turned on its ear one of the most sacrosanct moments in the entire series. I cleaned it up a bit along the way, too, because the original telling of the story didn't sound very much like Leo telling it. I hope I fixed that.
Of course, The West Wing belongs to whom it belongs. Me? I'm just a dork who likes to play around with this stuff from time to time and, occasionally, put it out there for others to either enjoy or hate. I tried to find the origin of the myth contained within this story. Some attribute it to the Cherokee people of North America, some say it's from ancient Greece. I have also found information linking it to Hindu teachings as well as originating as a Judeo-Christian parable. If anyone knows its true origin, I'd love to know the actual background of this myth.
Before you continue on to the story, do me a favor and think of Leo telling Josh the "A man fell into a hole" story in order to get the sound, rhythm and timbre of Leo McGarry's/John Spencer's voice in your head.
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In the dream, there were lights and music and a Christmas tree and Leo sitting in the lobby.
After an exhausting day of self-evaluation, Josh Lyman walked down a yellow hallway away from his office and into the main lobby of the west wing of the White House. He did not expect to encounter anyone in the lobby at this late hour and was slightly jolted when Leo McGarry, who had been sitting unnoticed in a large armchair facing the Christmas tree, asked him, "How'd it go?"
Josh release a flippant answer about having an eating disorder and a fear of rectangles. It required an impatient "Josh..." from his boss before he reluctantly revealed Stanley Keyworth's actual diagnosis. Leo responded to this revelation by telling Josh that he should go to the hospital to have his injured hand tended to. Josh stated that he was fine and, instead of responding to Josh's protest, Leo told Josh the following story:
"A hiker came upon a snake laying in a vast hard-pan clearing in forest. The snake was emaciated, bloodied and exhausted. The snake told the hiker about how he had left the cover of his rock pile near the cool river and the shady grove to find food. As soon as the snake had entered a clearing, a giant hawk had swooped down on him and carried him away. The hawk's talons had ripped into the snake and bloodied him, but the snake had wriggled free and fell to the ground. The snake lay on the hot, dry ground for days without food and water. He thought he was going to die but, finally, the hiker came along.
The snake pleaded with the hiker, 'Please, you've got to carry me back to my rock pile. I need food, water and shelter. If you leave me here, I'll die!' The hiker said, 'But you're a snake and you'll bite me as soon as you get the chance.'
The snake promised that he wouldn't bite the man so he picked the snake up, put it in his back pack and hiked back over the ridge. When the hiker finallycame upon the snake's home, he reached into the bag, gently brought the snake out and put it on the ground. As soon as the man did this, the snake turned and bit the man on the hand. The snake's venom worked its way into the hiker's blood and in just a few minutes, the guy was paralyzed.
As the hiker lay dying, he said to the snake, 'but you promised not to bite me...'
The snake said, 'Of course I did. But you knew what I was when you picked me up.'"
Josh awoke from his dream in a cold sweat.