3 perlepigraphs - list of Perl release epigraphs
7 Many Perl release announcements included an I<epigraph>, a short excerpt
8 from a literary or other creative work, chosen by the pumpking or
9 release manager. This file assembles the known list of epigraph for
12 I<Note>: these have also been referred to as <epigrams>, but the
13 definition of I<epigraph> is closer to the way they have been used.
14 Consult your favorite dictionary for details.
18 =head2 v5.13.0 - Jules Verne, "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth"
20 The heat still remained at quite a supportable degree. With an
21 involuntary shudder, I reflected on what the heat must have been
22 when the volcano of Sneffels was pouring its smoke, flames, and
23 streams of boiling lava -- all of which must have come up by the
24 road we were now following. I could imagine the torrents of hot
25 seething stone darting on, bubbling up with accompaniments of
26 smoke, steam, and sulphurous stench!
28 "Only to think of the consequences," I mused, "if the old
29 volcano were once more to set to work."
31 =head2 v5.12.1 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
33 "Now suppose," chortled Dr. Breed, enjoying himself, "that there were
34 many possible ways in which water could crystallize, could freeze.
35 Suppose that the sort of ice we skate upon and put into highballs—
36 what we might call ice-one—is only one of several types of ice.
37 Suppose water always froze as ice-one on Earth because it had never
38 had a seed to teach it how to form ice-two, ice-three, ice-four
39 ...? And suppose," he rapped on his desk with his old hand again,
40 "that there were one form, which we will call ice-nine—a crystal as
41 hard as this desk—with a melting point of, let us say, one-hundred
42 degrees Fahrenheit, or, better still, a melting point of one-hundred-
45 =head2 v5.12.1-RC2 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
47 San Lorenzo was fifty miles long and twenty miles wide, I learned from
48 the supplement to the New York Sunday Times. Its population was four
49 hundred, fifty thousand souls, "...all fiercely dedicated to the ideals
52 Its highest point, Mount McCabe, was eleven thousand feet above sea
53 level. Its capital was Bolivar, "...a strikingly modern city built on a
54 harbor capable of sheltering the entire United States Navy." The principal
55 exports were sugar, coffee, bananas, indigo, and handcrafted novelties.
57 =head2 v5.12.1-RC2 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
59 Which brings me to the Bokononist concept of a wampeter. A wampeter is
60 the pivot of a karass. No karass is without a wampeter, Bokonon tells us,
61 just as no wheel is without a hub. Anything can be a wampeter: a tree,
62 a rock, an animal, an idea, a book, a melody, the Holy Grail. Whatever
63 it is, the members of its karass revolve about it in the majestic chaos
64 of a spiral nebula. The orbits of the members of a karass about their
65 common wampeter are spiritual orbits, naturally. It is souls and not
66 bodies that revolve. As Bokonon invites us to sing:
68 Around and around and around we spin,
69 With feet of lead and wings of tin . . .
71 =head2 v5.12.0 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
73 'Please would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, for she was
74 not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, 'why
75 your cat grins like that?'
77 'It's a Cheshire cat,' said the Duchess, 'and that's why. Pig!'
79 She said the last word with such sudden violence that Alice quite
80 jumped; but she saw in another moment that it was addressed to the baby,
81 and not to her, so she took courage, and went on again:--
83 'I didn't know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn't know
84 that cats COULD grin.'
86 'They all can,' said the Duchess; 'and most of 'em do.'
88 =head2 v5.12.0-RC5 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
90 'Not QUITE right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; 'some of the words
93 'It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and
94 there was silence for some minutes.
96 =head2 v5.12.0-RC4 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
98 'It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, 'when one wasn't
99 always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and
100 rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and yet--and
101 yet--it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what
102 can have happened to me! When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that
103 kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!
105 =head2 v5.12.0-RC3 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
107 At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them,
108 called out, 'Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'LL soon make you
109 dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse
110 in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt
111 sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
113 'Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, 'are you all ready? This
114 is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! "William
115 the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted
116 to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much
117 accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of
118 Mercia and Northumbria—"'
120 =head2 v5.12.0-RC2 - no epigraph
124 =head2 v5.12.0-RC1 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
126 So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the
127 hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of
128 making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and
129 picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran
132 There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so
133 VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, 'Oh dear! Oh
134 dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it
135 occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time
136 it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH
137 OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on,
138 Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had
139 never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to
140 take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field
141 after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large
142 rabbit-hole under the hedge.
144 In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how
145 in the world she was to get out again.
147 =head2 v5.12.0-RC0 - no epigraph
151 =head2 v5.11.5 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Christabel"
153 A little child, a limber elf,
154 Singing, dancing to itself,
155 A fairy thing with red round cheeks,
156 That always finds, and never seeks,
157 Makes such a vision to the sight
158 As fills a father's eyes with light;
159 And pleasures flow in so thick and fast
160 Upon his heart, that he at last
161 Must needs express his love's excess
162 With words of unmeant bitterness.
163 Perhaps 'tis pretty to force together
164 Thoughts so all unlike each other;
165 To mutter and mock a broken charm,
166 To dally with wrong that does no harm.
167 Perhaps 'tis tender too and pretty
168 At each wild word to feel within
169 A sweet recoil of love and pity.
170 And what, if in a world of sin
171 (O sorrow and shame should this be true!)
172 Such giddiness of heart and brain
173 Comes seldom save from rage and pain,
174 So talks as it's most used to do.
176 =head2 v5.11.4 - Fyodor Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment"
178 And you don't suppose that I went into it headlong like a fool? I went
179 into it like a wise man, and that was just my destruction. And you
180 mustn't suppose that I didn't know, for instance, that if I began to
181 question myself whether I had the right to gain power -- I certainly
182 hadn't the right -- or that if I asked myself whether a human being is a
183 louse it proved that it wasn't so for me, though it might be for a man
184 who would go straight to his goal without asking questions.... If I
185 worried myself all those days, wondering whether Napoleon would have
186 done it or not, I felt clearly of course that I wasn't Napoleon.
188 =head2 v5.11.3 - Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
190 "Say -- I'm going in a swimming, I am. Don't you wish you could? But of
191 course you'd druther work—wouldn't you? Course you would!"
193 Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said: "What do you call work?"
195 "Why ain't that work?"
197 Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly: "Well, maybe it
198 is, and maybe it aint. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer."
200 "Oh come, now, you don't mean to let on that you like it?"
202 The brush continued to move. "Like it? Well I don't see why I oughtn't
203 to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"
205 That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom
206 swept his brush daintily back and forth -- stepped back to note the effect
207 -- added a touch here and there-criticised the effect again -- Ben
208 watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more
209 absorbed. Presently he said: "Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."
212 =head2 v5.11.2 - Michael Marshall Smith, "Only Forward"
214 The streets were pretty quiet, which was nice. They're always quiet here
215 at that time: you have to be wearing a black jacket to be out on the
216 streets between seven and nine in the evening, and not many people in
217 the area have black jackets. It's just one of those things. I currently
218 live in Colour Neighbourhood, which is for people who are heavily into
219 colour. All the streets and buildings are set for instant colourmatch:
220 as you walk down the road they change hue to offset whatever you're
221 wearing. When the streets are busy it's kind of intense, and anyone
222 prone to epileptic seizures isn't allowed to live in the Neighbourhood,
223 however much they're into colour.
225 =head2 v5.11.1 - Joseph Heller, "Catch-22"
227 Milo had been caught red-handed in the act of plundering his countrymen,
228 and, as a result, his stock had never been higher. He proved good as his
229 word when a rawboned major from Minnesota curled his lip in rebellious
230 disavowal and demanded his share of the syndicate Milo kept saying
231 everybody owned. Milo met the challenge by writing the words "A Share"
232 on the nearest scrap of paper and handing it away with a virtuous disdain
233 that won the envy and admiration of almost everyone who knew him. His
234 glory was at a peak, and Colonel Cathcart, who knew and admired his
235 war record, was astonished by the deferential humility with which Mil
236 presented himself at Group Headquarters and made his fantastic appeal
237 for more hazardous assignment.
239 =head2 v5.11.0 - Mikhail Bulgakov, "The Master and Margarita"
241 Whispers of an "evil power" were heard in lines at dairy shops, in
242 streetcars, stores, arguments, kitchens, suburban and long-distance
243 trains, at stations large and small, in dachas and on beaches. Needless
244 to say, truly mature and cultured people did not tell these stories
245 about an evil power's visit to the capital. In fact, they even made fun
246 of them and tried to talk sense into those who told them. Nevertheless,
247 facts are facts, as they say, and cannot simply be dismissed without
248 explanation: somebody had visited the capital. The charred cinders of
249 Griboyedov alone, and many other things besides, confirmed it. Cultured
250 people shared the point of view of the investigating team: it was the
251 work of a gang of hypnotists and ventriloquists magnificently skilled in
255 =head2 v5.10.1 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
257 'Briefly, sir, I am the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, known as
258 the Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private
259 Secretary. I, too, have a Principal Private Secretary, and he is the
260 Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly
261 responsible to me are ten Deputy Secretaries, eighty-seven Under
262 Secretaries and two hundred and nineteen Assistant Secretaries.
263 Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretaries are plain
264 Private Secretaries. The Prime Minister will be appointing two
265 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries and you will be appointing your own
266 Parliamentary Private Secretary.'
268 'Can they all type?' I joked.
270 'None of us can type, Minister,' replied Sir Humphrey smoothly. 'Mrs
271 McKay types - she is your Secretary.'
273 I couldn't tell whether or not he was joking. 'What a pity,' I said.
274 'We could have opened an agency.'
276 Sir Humphrey and Bernard laughed. 'Very droll, sir,' said Sir
277 Humphrey. 'Most amusing, sir,' said Bernard. Were they genuinely
278 amused at my wit, or just being rather patronising? 'I suppose they
279 all say that, do they?' I ventured.
281 Sir Humphrey reassured me on that. 'Certainly not, Minister,' he
282 replied. 'Not quite all.'
284 =head2 v5.10.1-RC2 - no epigraph
288 =head2 v5.10.1-RC1 - no epigraph
292 =head2 v5.10.0 - Laurence Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
294 He would often declare, in speaking his thoughts upon the subject, that
295 he did not conceive how the greatest family in England could stand it
296 out against an uninterrupted succession of six or seven short
297 noses.--And for the contrary reason, he would generally add, That it
298 must be one of the greatest problems in civil life, where the same
299 number of long and jolly noses, following one another in a direct line,
300 did not raise and hoist it up into the best vacancies in the kingdom.
302 =head2 v5.10.0-RC2 - no epigraph
306 =head2 v5.10.0-RC1 - no epigraph
310 =head2 v5.9.5 - no epigraph
314 =head2 v5.9.4 - no epigraph
318 =head2 v5.9.3 - no epigraph
322 =head2 v5.9.2 - Thomas Pynchon, "V"
324 This word flip was weird. Every recording date of McClintic's he'd
325 gotten into the habit of talking electricity with the audio men and
326 technicians of the studio. McClintic once couldn't have cared less
327 about electricity, but now it seemed if that was helping him reach a
328 bigger audience, some digging, some who would never dig, but all
329 paying and those royalties keeping the Triumph in gas and McClintic
330 in J. Press suits, then McClintic ought to be grateful to
331 electricity, ought maybe to learn a little more about it. So he'd
332 picked up some here and there, and one day last summer he got around
333 to talking stochastic music and digital computers with one
334 technician. Out of the conversation had come Set/Reset, which was
335 getting to be a signature for the group. He had found out from this
336 sound man about a two-triode circuit called a flip-flop, which when
337 it turned on could be one of two ways, depending on which tube was
338 conducting and which was cut off: set or reset, flip or flop.
340 "And that," the man said, "can be yes or no, or one or zero. And
341 that is what you might call one of the basic units, or specialized
342 `cells' in a big `electronic brain.' "
344 "Crazy," said McClintic, having lost him back there someplace. But
345 one thing that did occur to him was if a computer's brain could go
346 flip or flop, why so could a musician's. As long as you were flop,
347 everything was cool. But where did the trigger-pulse come from to
350 =head2 v5.9.1 - Tom Stoppard, "Arcadia"
352 Aren't you supposed to have a pony?
354 =head2 v5.9.0 - Doris Lessing, "Martha Quest"
356 What of October, that ambiguous month
358 =head2 v5.8.9 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
360 Frank and I, unlike the civil servants, were still puzzled that such a
361 proposal as the Europass could even be seriously under consideration by
362 the FCO. We can both see clearly that it is wonderful ammunition for the
363 anti-Europeans. I asked Humphrey if the Foreign Office doesn't realise
364 how damaging this would be to the European ideal?
366 'I'm sure they do, Minister, he said. That's why they support it.'
368 This was even more puzzling, since I'd always been under the impression
369 that the FO is pro-Europe. 'Is it or isn't it?' I asked Humphrey.
371 'Yes and no,' he replied of course, 'if you'll pardon the
372 expression. The Foreign Office is pro-Europe because it is really
373 anti-Europe. In fact the Civil Service was united in its desire to make
374 sure the Common Market didn't work. That's why we went into it.'
376 This sounded like a riddle to me. I asked him to explain further. And
377 basically his argument was as follows: Britain has had the same foreign
378 policy objective for at least the last five hundred years - to create a
379 disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against
380 the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and
381 Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Italians
382 and Germans. [The Dutch rebellion against Phillip II of Spain, the
383 Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War - Ed.]
385 In other words, divide and rule. And the Foreign Office can see no
386 reason to change when it has worked so well until now.
388 I was aware of this, naturally, but I regarded it as ancient history.
389 Humphrey thinks that it is, in fact, current policy. It was necessary
390 for us to break up the EEC, he explained, so we had to get inside. We
391 had previously tried to break it up from the outside, but that didn't
392 work. [A reference to our futile and short-lived involvement in EFTA,
393 the European Free Trade Association, founded in 1960 and which the UK
394 left in 1972 - Ed.] Now that we're in, we are able to make a complete
395 pig's breakfast out of it. We've now set the Germans against the French,
396 the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch... and
397 the Foreign office is terribly happy. It's just like old time.
399 I was staggered by all of this. I thought that the all of us who are
400 publicly pro-European believed in the European ideal. I said this to Sir
401 Humphrey, and he simply chuckled.
403 So I asked him: if we don't believe in the European Ideal, why are we
404 pushing to increase the membership?
406 'Same reason,' came the reply. 'It's just like the United Nations. The
407 more members it has, the more arguments you can stir up, and the more
408 futile and impotent it becomes.'
410 This all strikes me as the most appalling cynicism, and I said so.
412 Sir Humphrey agreed completely. 'Yes Minister. We call it
413 diplomacy. It's what made Britain great, you know.'
415 =head2 v5.8.9-RC2 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
417 There was silence in the office. I didn't know what we were going to do
418 about the four hundred new people supervising our economy drive or the
419 four hundred new people for the Bureaucratic Watchdog Office, or
420 anything! I simply sat and waited and hoped that my head would stop
421 thumping and that some idea would be suggested by someone sometime soon.
423 Sir Humphrey obliged. 'Minister... if we were to end the economy drive
424 and close the Bureaucratic Watchdog Office we could issue an immediate
425 press announcement that you had axed eight hundred jobs.' He had
426 obviously thought this out carefully in advance, for at this moment he
427 produced a slim folder from under his arm. 'If you'd like to approve
430 I couldn't believe the impertinence of the suggestion. Axed eight
431 hundred jobs? 'But no one was ever doing these jobs,' I pointed out
432 incredulously. 'No one's been appointed yet.'
434 'Even greater economy,' he replied instantly. 'We've saved eight hundred
435 redundancy payments as well.'
437 'But...' I attempted to explain '... that's just phony. It's dishonest,
438 it's juggling with figures, it's pulling the wool over people's eyes.'
440 'A government press release, in fact.' said Humphrey.
442 =head2 v5.8.9-RC1 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
444 A jumbo jet touched down, with BURANDAN AIRWAYS written on the side. I
445 was hugely impressed. British Airways are having to pawn their Concordes,
446 and here is this little tiny African state with its own airline, jumbo
449 I asked Bernard how many planes Burandan Airways had. 'None,' he said.
451 I told him not to be silly and use his eyes. 'No Minister, it belongs to
452 Freddie Laker,' he said. 'They chartered it last week and repainted it
453 specially.' Apparently most of the Have-Nots (I mean, LDCs) do this - at
454 the opening of the UN General Assembly the runways of Kennedy Airport are
455 jam-packed with phoney flag-carriers. 'In fact,' said Bernard with a sly
456 grin, 'there was one 747 that belonged to nine different African airlines
457 in a month. They called it the mumbo-jumbo.'
459 While we watched nothing much happening on the TV except the mumbo-jumbo
460 taxiing around Prestwick and the Queen looking a bit chilly, Bernard gave
461 me the next day's schedule and explained that I was booked on the night
462 sleeper from King's Cross to Edinburgh because I had to vote in a
463 three-line whip at the House tonight and would have to miss the last
464 plane. Then the commentator, in that special hushed BBC voice used for any
465 occasion with which Royalty is connected, announced reverentially that we
466 were about to catch our first glimpse of President Selim.
468 And out of the plane stepped Charlie. My old friend Charlie Umtali. We
469 were at LSE together. Not Selim Mohammed at all, but Charlie.
471 Bernard asked me if I were sure. Silly question. How could you forget a
472 name like Charlie Umtali?
474 I sent Bernard for Sir Humphrey, who was delighted to hear that we now
475 know something about our official visitor.
477 Bernard's official brief said nothing. Amazing! Amazing how little the FCO
478 has been able to find out. Perhaps they were hoping it would all be on the
479 car radio. All the brief says is that Colonel Selim Mohammed had converted
480 to Islam some years ago, they didn't know his original name, and therefore
481 knew little of his background.
483 I was able to tell Humphrey and Bernard /all/ about his background.
484 Charlie was a red-hot political economist, I informed them. Got the top
485 first. Wiped the floor with everyone.
487 Bernard seemed relieved. 'Well that's all right then.'
491 'I think Bernard means,' said Sir Humphrey helpfully, 'that he'll know how
492 to behave if he was at an English University. Even if it was the LSE.' I
493 never know whether or not Humphrey is insulting me intentionally.
495 Humphrey was concerned about Charlie's political colour. 'When you said
496 that he was red-hot, were you speaking politically?'
498 In a way I was. 'The thing about Charlie is that you never quite know
499 where you are with him. He's the sort of chap who follows you into a
500 revolving door and comes out in front.'
502 'No deeply held convictions?' asked Sir Humphrey.
504 'No. The only thing Charlie was committed too was Charlie.'
506 'Ah, I see. A politician, Minister.'
508 =head2 v5.8.8 - Joe Raposo, "Bein' Green"
510 It's not that easy bein' green
511 Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
512 When I think it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold
513 Or something much more colorful like that
515 It's not easy bein' green
516 It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
517 And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
518 Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
521 But green's the color of Spring
522 And green can be cool and friendly-like
523 And green can be big like an ocean
524 Or important like a mountain
527 When green is all there is to be
528 It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
529 Wonder I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful
530 And I think it's what I want to be
532 =head2 v5.8.8-RC1 - Cosgrove Hall Productions, "Dangermouse"
534 Greenback: And the world is mine, all mine. Muhahahahaha. See to it!
536 Stiletto: Si, Barone. Subito, Barone.
538 =head2 v5.8.7 - Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf"
540 And now, imagine the triumphant procession: Peter at the head; after him the
541 hunters leading the wolf; and winding up the procession, grandfather and the
544 Grandfather shook his head discontentedly: "Well, and if Peter hadn't caught
545 the wolf? What then?"
547 =head2 v5.8.7-RC1 - Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf"
549 And now this is how things stood: The cat was sitting on one branch. The
550 bird on another, not too close to the cat. And the wolf walked round and
551 round the tree, looking at them with greedy eyes.
553 In the meantime, Peter, without the slightest fear, stood behind the
554 gate, watching all that was going on. He ran home,got a strong rope and
555 climbed up the high stone wall.
557 One of the branches of the tree, around which the wolf was walking,
558 stretched out over the wall.
560 Grabbing hold of the branch, Peter lightly climbed over on to the tree.
561 Peter said to the bird: "Fly down and circle round the wolf's head, only
562 take care that he doesn't catch you!".
564 The bird almost touched the wolf's head with its wings, while the wolf
565 snapped angrily at him from this side and that.
567 How that bird teased the wolf, how that wolf wanted to catch him! But
568 the bird was clever and the wolf simply couldn't do anything about it.
570 =head2 v5.8.6 - A. A. Milne, "The House at Pooh Corner"
572 "Hallo, Pooh," said Piglet, giving a jump of surprise. "I knew it was
575 "So did I,", said Pooh. "What are you doing?"
577 "I'm planting a haycorn, Pooh, so that it can grow up into an oak-tree,
578 and have lots of haycorns just outside the front door instead of having
579 to walk miles and miles, do you see, Pooh?"
581 "Supposing it doesn't?" said Pooh.
583 "It will, because Christopher Robin says it will, so that's why I'm
586 "Well," aid Pooh, "if I plant a honeycomb outside my house, then it will
587 grow up into a beehive."
589 Piglet wasn't quite sure about this.
591 "Or a /piece/ of a honeycomb," said Pooh, "so as not to waste too much.
592 Only then I might only get a piece of a beehive, and it might be the
593 wrong piece, where the bees were buzzing and not hunnying. Bother"
595 Piglet agreed that that would be rather bothering.
597 "Besides, Pooh, it's a very difficult thing, planting unless you know
598 how to do it," he said; and he put the acorn in the hole he had made,
599 and covered it up with earth, and jumped on it.
601 =head2 v5.8.6-RC1 - A. A. Milne, "Winnie the Pooh"
603 "Hallo!" said Piglet, "whare are /you/ doing?"
605 "Hunting," said Pooh.
609 "Tracking something," said Winnie-the-Pooh very mysteriously.
611 "Tracking what?" said Piglet, coming closer.
613 "That's just what I ask myself, I ask myself, What?"
615 "What do you think you'll answer?"
617 "I shall have to wait until I catch up with it," said Winnie-the-Pooh.
618 "Now, look there." He pointed to the ground in front of him. "What do
621 "Track," said Piglet. "Paw-marks." He gave a little squeak of
622 excitement. "Oh, Pooh!" Do you think it's a--a--a Woozle?"
624 =head2 v5.8.5 - wikipedia, "Yew"
626 Yews are relatively slow growing trees, widely used in landscaping and
627 ornamental horticulture. They have flat, dark-green needles, reddish
628 bark, and bear seeds with red arils, which are eaten by thrushes,
629 waxwings and other birds, dispersing the hard seeds undamaged in their
630 droppings. Yew wood is reddish brown (with white sapwood), and very
631 hard. It was traditionally used to make bows, especially the English
634 In England, the Common Yew (Taxus baccata, also known as English Yew) is
635 often found in churchyards. It is sometimes suggested that these are
636 placed there as a symbol of long life or trees of death, and some are
637 likely to be over 3,000 years old. It is also suggested that yew trees
638 may have a pre-Christian association with old pagan holy sites, and the
639 Christian church found it expedient to use and take over existing sites.
640 Another explanation is that the poisonous berries and foliage discourage
641 farmers and drovers from letting their animals wander into the burial
642 grounds. The yew tree is a frequent symbol in the Christian poetry of
643 T.S. Eliot, especially his Four Quartets.
645 =head2 v5.8.5-RC2 - wikipedia, "Beech"
647 Beeches are trees of the Genus Fagus, family Fagaceae, including about
648 ten species in Europe, Asia, and North America. The leaves are entire or
649 sparsely toothed. The fruit is a small, sharply-angled nut, borne in
650 pairs in spiny husks. The beech most commonly grown as an ornamental or
651 shade tree is the European beech (Fagus sylvatica).
653 The southern beeches belong to a different but related genus,
654 Nothofagus. They are found in Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New
655 Caledonia and South America.
657 =head2 v5.8.5-RC1 - wikipedia, "Pedunculate Oak" (abridged)
659 The Pedunculate Oak is called the Common Oak in Britain, and is also
660 often called the English Oak in other English speaking countries It is a
661 large deciduous tree to 25-35m tall (exceptionally to 40m), with lobed
662 and sessile (stalk-less) leaves. Flowering takes place in early to mid
663 spring, and their fruit, called "acorns", ripen by autumn of the same
664 year. The acorns are pedunculate (having a peduncle or acorn-stalk) and
665 may occur singly, or several acorns may occur on a stalk.
667 It forms a long-lived tree, with a large widespreading head of rugged
668 branches. While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many
669 of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques
670 that extend the tree's potential lifespan, if not its health.
672 Within its native range it is valued for its importance to insects and
673 other wildlife. Numerous insects live on the leaves, buds, and in the
674 acorns. The acorns form a valuable food resource for several small
675 mammals and some birds, notably Jays Garrulus glandarius.
677 It is planted for forestry, and produces a long-lasting and durable
678 heartwood, much in demand for interior and furniture work.
680 =head2 v5.8.4 - T. S. Eliot, "The Old Gumbie Cat"
682 I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
683 The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots.
684 She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that's smooth and flat:
685 She sits and sits and sits and sits -- and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!
687 But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
688 Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
689 She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment
690 To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment.
691 So she's formed, from that a lot of disorderly louts,
692 A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts,
693 With a purpose in life and a good deed to do--
694 And she's even created a Beetles' Tattoo.
696 So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers --
697 On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.
700 =head2 v5.8.4-RC2 - T. S. Eliot, "Macavity: The Mystery Cat"
702 Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw --
703 For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
704 He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
705 For when they reach the scene of crime -- /Macavity's not there/!
707 Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
708 He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
709 His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
710 And when you reach the scene of crime -- /Macavity's not there/!
711 You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air --
712 But I tell you once and once again, /Macavity's not there/!
714 =head2 v5.8.4-RC1 - T. S. Eliot, "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"
716 There's a whisper down the line at 11.39
717 When the Night Mail's ready to depart,
718 Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble has he gone to hunt the thimble?
719 We must find him of the train can't start.'
720 All the guards and all the porters and the stationmaster's daughters
721 They are searching high and low,
722 Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble for unless he's very nimble
723 Then the Night Mail just can't go'
724 At 11.42 then the signal's overdue
725 And the passengers are frantic to a man--
726 Then Skimble will appear and he'll saunter to the rear:
727 He's been busy in the luggage van!
728 He gives one flash of his glass-green eyes
729 And the the signal goes 'All Clear!'
730 And we're off at last of the northern part
731 Of the Northern Hemisphere!
733 =head2 v5.8.3 - Arthur William Edgar O'Shaugnessy, "Ode"
735 We are the music makers,
736 And we are the dreamers of dreams,
737 Wandering by lonely sea-breakers,
738 And sitting by desolate streams; --
739 World-losers and world-forsakers,
740 On whom the pale moon gleams:
741 Yet we are the movers and shakers
742 Of the world for ever, it seems.
744 =head2 v5.8.3-RC1 - Irving Berlin, "Let's Face the Music and Dance"
746 There may be trouble ahead,
747 But while there's music and moonlight,
748 And love and romance,
749 Let's face the music and dance.
751 Before the fiddlers have fled,
752 Before they ask us to pay the bill,
753 And while we still have that chance,
754 Let's face the music and dance.
756 Soon, we'll be without the moon,
757 Humming a different tune, and then,
759 There may be teardrops to shed,
760 So while there's music and moonlight,
761 And love and romance,
762 Let's face the music and dance.
764 =head2 v5.8.2 - Walt Whitman, "Passage to India"
766 Passage, immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins!
767 Away O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!
768 Cut the hawsers - hall out - shake out every sail!
769 Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough?
770 Have we not grovel'd here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?
771 Have we not darken'd and dazed ourselves with books long enough?
773 Sail forth - steer for the deep waters only,
774 Reckless O soul, exploring, I with the and thou with me,
775 For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
776 And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.
779 O farther farther sail!
780 O daring job, but safe! are they not all the seas of God?
781 O farther, farther, farther sail!
783 =head2 v5.8.2-RC2 - Eric Idle/John Du Prez, "Accountancy Shanty"
785 It's fun to charter an accountant
786 And sail the wide accountan-cy,
787 To find, explore the funds offshore
788 And skirt the shoals of bankruptcy.
790 =head2 v5.8.2-RC1 - Edward Lear, "The Jumblies"
792 They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
793 In a Sieve they went to sea:
794 In spite of all their friends could say,
795 On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
796 In a Sieve they went to sea!
797 And when the Sieve turned round and round,
798 And everyone cried, "You'll all be drowned!"
799 They cried aloud, "Our Sieve ain't big,
800 But we don't care a button, we don't care a fig!
801 In a Sieve we'll go to sea!"
803 Far and few, far and few,
804 Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
805 Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
806 And they went to sea in a Sieve.
808 =head2 v5.8.1 - Terry Pratchett, "The Color of Magic"
810 "What happens next?" asked Twoflower.
812 Hrun screwed a finger in his ear and inspected it absently.
814 "Oh,", he said, "I expect in a minute the door will be
815 flung back and I'll be dragged off to some sort of temple
816 arena where I'll fight maybe a couple of giant spiders
817 and an eight-foot slave from the jungles of Klatch and then
818 I'll rescue some kind of a princess from the altar and then
819 I'll kill off a few guards or whatever and then this girl
820 will show me the secret passage out of the place and we'll
821 liberate a couple of horses and escape with the treasure."
822 Hrun leaned his head back on his hands and looked at the
823 ceiling, whistling tunelessly.
825 "All that?" said Twoflower.
829 =head2 v5.8.1-RC5 - Terry Pratchett, "Lords and Ladies"
831 No matter what she did with her hair it took about
832 three minutes for it to tangle itself up again,
833 like a garden hosepipe in a shed [Footnote: Which,
834 no matter how carefully coiled, will always uncoil
835 overnight and tie the lawnmower to the bicycles].
837 =head2 v5.6.2 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
839 When great or unexpected events fall out upon the stage of this
840 sublunary word--the mind of man, which is an inquisitive kind of
841 a substance, naturally takes a flight, behind the scenes, to see
842 what is the cause and first spring of them--The search was not
843 long in this instance.
845 =head2 v5.6.2-RC1 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
847 "Pray, my dear", quoth my mother, "have you not forgot to wind up the clock?"
849 =head2 5.005_05-RC1 - no epigraph
853 =head2 5.005_04 - no epigraph
857 =head2 5.005_04-RC2 - Rudyard Kipling, "The Jungle Book"
859 The monkeys called the place their city, and pretended to despise
860 the Jungle-People because they lived in the forest. And yet they
861 never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use
862 them. They would sit in circles on the hall of the king's council
863 chamber, and scratch for fleas and pretend to be men; or they would
864 run in and out of the roofless houses and collect pieces of plaster
865 and old bricks in a corner, and forget where they had hidden them,
866 and fight and cry in scuffling crowds, and then break off to play up
867 and down the terraces of the king's garden, where they would shake
868 the rose trees and the oranges in sport to see the fruit and flowers
871 =head2 5.005_04-RC1 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
873 Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had
874 plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was
875 going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what
876 she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked
877 at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with
878 cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures
879 hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she
880 passed; it was labelled 'ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great
881 disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear
882 of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as
885 =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
887 This document was originally compiled based on a list of epigraphs
888 on L<Perl Monks|http://perlmonks.org> titled
889 L<Recent Perl Release Announcement|http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=372406>