This is a story of a waterlily pond, a frog and a snake. It is full of action, menace and suspense. Luckily, there is a happy ending although one party does look foolish.

Once upon a time in 2009, there was a waterlily pond in an East Berlin park called the Gärten der Welt (Gardens of the World).

At first, all appeared peaceful. The sun shone, dragonflies buzzed. A ripple in the water caught my eye. A frog was swimming vigorously to the pond's edge.

When it got to firmer ground, it just squatted there.

But in the pond were a lot more frogs, mostly sunning on the waterlily pad sunbeds or swimming from one pad to another.

Then I noticed a very different movement in the water. It was a snake .. then another .. and another!

But wait, was one of them hunting? It certainly seemed focused on one particular green specimen.

As the distance between the two closed, my heart started thudding. Was I going to witness a National Geographic “eat or be eaten” moment?

Just when I thought the snake would strike, the frog leapt casually to another waterlily pad. It was so comical I had to laugh. Poor snake – how on earth do you feed yourself?