5 perlepigraphs - list of Perl release epigraphs
9 Many Perl release announcements included an I<epigraph>, a short excerpt
10 from a literary or other creative work, chosen by the pumpking or release
11 manager. This file assembles the known list of epigraph for posterity,
12 and also links to the release announcements in mailing list archives.
14 I<Note>: these have also been referred to as <epigrams>, but the
15 definition of I<epigraph> is closer to the way they have been used.
16 Consult your favorite dictionary for details.
20 =head1 v5.13.10 - Egill Skalla-Grímsson, L<Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar|http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Egils_saga_Skalla-Gr%C3%ADmssonar>
22 L<Annonced on 2011-02-20 by Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/02/msg169340.html>
24 Skalat maðr rúnar rísta,
26 Þat verðr mörgum manni,
27 es of myrkvan staf villisk.
31 langs ofrtrega fengit.
33 =head2 v5.13.9 - John F Kennedy, L<Inaugural Address January 20, 1961|http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy%27s_Inaugural_Address>
35 L<Announced on 2011-01-20 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/01/msg168335.html>
37 In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been
38 granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I
39 do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe
40 that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other
41 generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this
42 endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from
43 that fire can truly light the world.
45 And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you;
46 ask what you can do for your country.
48 My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you,
49 but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
51 Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world,
52 ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which
53 we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history
54 the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love,
55 asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's
56 work must truly be our own.
58 =head2 v5.13.8 - Roger Williams, L<"The Fifth Gift"|http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/8/19/21304/8493>
60 L<Announced on 2010-12-19 by Zefram|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/12/msg167271.html>
62 The aliens called the box a "matter generator," but we'd be more inclined
63 to call it a matter duplicator. By connecting switches and potentiometers
64 between the copper posts it was possible to make the box mark off two
65 cubic rectangular areas of volume. Make a certain contact, and these
66 areas would be isolated within perfectly reflective fields. They could
67 be expanded or contracted by altering resistances between other posts.
68 As I worked out the user interface I built a little control panel for
69 the device. It was actually a clever way for the aliens to do things;
70 instead of trying to build controls we could use, they built us an
71 interface we could attach to controls that made sense to us. It could
74 Once you had made the contact that established the shielded volumes,
75 if you made another certain contact the contents of the first volume
76 were copied to the second. The machine copied metal, plastic, steel,
77 and diamond with equal ease. Copies of copies of copies of copies were
78 indistinguishable from the originals at any magnification, even using
79 techniques like X-ray crystallography.
81 =head2 v5.13.7 - Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski, 'The Matrix'
83 L<Announced on 2010-11-20 by Chris 'BinGOs' Williams|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/11/msg166162.html>
85 [Neo sees a black cat walk by them, and then a similar black cat walk by them just like the first one]
89 [Everyone freezes right in their tracks]
91 Trinity: What did you just say?
92 Neo: Nothing. Just had a little deja vu.
93 Trinity: What did you see?
94 Cypher: What happened?
95 Neo: A black cat went past us, and then another that looked just like it.
96 Trinity: How much like it? Was it the same cat?
97 Neo: It might have been. I'm not sure.
98 Morpheus: Switch! Apoc!
100 Trinity: A deja vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.
102 =head2 v5.13.6 - Haruki Murakami, "Kafka on the Shore"
104 L<Announced on 2010-10-20 by Tatsuhiko Miyagawa|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/10/msg165183.html>
106 The boy called Crow softly rests a hand on my shoulder, and with that
109 "From now on -- no matter what -- you've got to be the world's toughest
110 fifteen-year-old. That's the only way you're going to survive. And in order
111 to do that, you've got to figure out what it means to be tough. You following
114 I keep my eyes closed and don't reply. I just want to sink off into sleep
115 like this, his hand on my shoulder. I hear the faint flutter of wings.
117 "You're going to be the world's toughest fifteen-year-old," Crow whispers
118 as I try to fall asleep. Like he was carving the words in a deep blue tattoo
121 (Translated from Japanese by Philip Gabriel)
123 =head2 v5.13.5 - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, "The Room in the Dragon Volant"
125 L<Announced on 2010-09-19 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/09/msg164238.html>
127 Candle in hand I stepped in. I do not know whether the quality of
128 air, long undisturbed, is peculiar; to me it has always seemed so, and
129 the damp smell of the old masonry hung in this atmosphere. My candle
130 faintly lighted the bare stone wall that enclosed the stair, the foot
131 of which I could not see. Down I went, and a few turns brought me to
132 the stone floor. Here was another door, of the simple, old, oak kind,
133 deep sunk in the thickness of the wall. The large end of the key
134 fitted this. The lock was stiff; I set the candle down upon the
135 stair, and applied both hands; it turned with difficulty, and as it
136 revolved, uttered a shriek that alarmed me for my secret.
138 For some minutes I did not move. In a little time, however, I took
139 courage, and opened the door. The night-air floating in puffed out
140 the candle. There was a thicket of holly and underwood, as dense as a
141 jungle, close about the door. I should have been in pitch-darkness,
142 were it not that through the topmost leaves there twinkled, here and
143 there, a glimmer of moonshine.
145 Softly, lest any one should have opened his window at the sound of the
146 rusty bolt, I struggled through this till I gained a view of the open
147 grounds. Here I found that the brushwood spread a good way up the
148 park, uniting with the wood that approached the little temple I have
151 =head2 v5.12.3 - Howard W. Campbell, Jr., "Reflections on Not Participating in Current Events"
153 L<Announced on 2011-01-21 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/01/msg168368.html>
155 I saw a huge steam roller,
156 It blotted out the sun.
157 The people all lay down, lay down;
158 They did not try to run.
159 My love and I, we looked amazed
160 Upon the gory mystery.
161 'Lie down, lie down!' the people cried.
162 'The great machine is history!'
163 My love and I, we ran away,
164 The engine did not find us.
165 We ran up to a mountain top,
166 Left history far behind us.
167 Perhaps we should have stayed and died,
168 But somehow we don't think so.
169 We went to see where history'd been,
170 And my, the dead did stink so.
172 =head2 v5.12.2 - William Gibson, "Pattern Recognition"
174 L<Announced on 2010-09-06 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/09/msg163852.html>
176 CPUs. Cayce Pollard Units. That's what Damien calls the clothing
177 she wears. CPUs are either black, white, or gray, and ideally
178 seem to have come into this world without human intervention.
180 What people take for relentless minimalism is a side effect
181 of too much exposure to the reactor-cores of fashion. This
182 has resulted in a remorseless paring-down of what she can and
183 will wear. She is, literally, allergic to fashion. She can
184 only tolerate things that could have been worn, to a general
185 lack of comment, during any year between 1945 and 2000. She's a
186 design-free zone, a one-woman school of and whose very austerity
187 periodically threatens to spawn its own cult.
189 =head2 v5.12.2-RC1 - William Gibson, "Pattern Recognition"
191 L<Announced on 2010-08-31 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/08/msg163670.html>
193 The front page opens, familiar as a friend's living room. A frame-grab
194 from #48 serves as backdrop, dim and almost monochrome, no characters in
195 view. This is one of the sequences that generate comparisons with
196 Tarkovsky. She only knows Tarkovsky from stills, really, though she did
197 once fall asleep during a screening of The Stalker, going under on an
198 endless pan, the camera aimed straight down, in close-up, at a puddle on
199 a ruined mosaic floor. But she is not one of those who think that much
200 will be gained by analysis of the maker's imagined influences. The cult
201 of the footage is rife with subcults, claiming every possible influence.
202 Truffaut, Peckinpah -- The Peckinpah people, among the least likely, are
203 still waiting for the guns to be drawn.
205 =head2 v5.13.4 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
207 L<Announced on 2010-08-20 by Florian Ragwitz|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/08/msg163150.html>
209 `How the creatures order one about, and make one repeat lessons!' thought Alice;
210 `I might as well be at school at once.' However, she got up, and began to repeat
211 it, but her head was so full of the Lobster Quadrille, that she hardly knew what
212 she was saying, and the words came very queer indeed:--
214 "'Tis the voice of the Lobster; I heard him declare,
215 "You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."
216 As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose
217 Trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes.'
220 `That's different from what I used to say when I was a child,' said the Gryphon.
222 `Well, I never heard it before,' said the Mock Turtle; `but it sounds uncommon
225 Alice said nothing; she had sat down with her face in her hands, wondering if
226 anything would ever happen in a natural way again.
228 `I should like to have it explained,' said the Mock Turtle.
230 `She can't explain it,' said the Gryphon hastily. `Go on with the next verse.'
232 `But about his toes?' the Mock Turtle persisted. `How could he turn them out
233 with his nose, you know?'
235 `It's the first position in dancing.' Alice said; but was dreadfully puzzled by
236 the whole thing, and longed to change the subject.
238 =head2 v5.13.3 - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, "Good Omens"
240 L<Announced on 2010-07-20 by David Golden|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/07/msg162230.html>
242 Look at Crowley, doing 110 mph on the M40 heading towards
243 Oxfordshire. Even the most resolutely casual observer would
244 notice a number of strange things about him. The clenched teeth,
245 for example, or the dull red glow coming from behind his
246 sunglasses. And the car. The car was a definite hint.
248 Crowley had started the journey in his Bentley, and he was
249 dammned if he wasn't going to finish it in the Bentley as well.
250 Not that even the kind of car buff who owns his own pair of
251 motoring goggles would have been able to tell it was a vintage
252 Bentley. Not any more. They wouldn't have been able to tell
253 that it was a Bentley. They would only offer fifty-fifty that it
254 had ever even been a car.
256 There was no paint left on it, for a start. It might still have
257 been black, where it wasn't a rusty, smudged reddish-brown, but
258 this was a dull charcoal black. It traveled in its own ball of
259 flame, like a space capsule making a particularly difficult
262 There was a thin skin of crusted, melted rubber left around the
263 metal wheel rims, but seeing that the wheel rims were still
264 somhow riding an inch above the road surface this didn't seem to
265 make an awful lot of difference to the suspension.
267 It should have fallen apart miles back.
269 =head2 v5.13.2 - Iain M Banks, "Use of Weapons"
271 L<Announced on 2010-06-22 by Matt S Trout|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/06/msg161112.html>
273 We deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal laws -
274 the rules of right and wrong that people imagine apply everywhere else
275 in the universe - break down; beyond those metaphysical event-horizons,
276 there exist ... special circumstances.
278 =head2 v5.13.1 - Miguel de Unamuno, "The Sepulchre of Don Quixote"
280 L<Announced on 2010-05-20 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/05/msg160275.html>
282 And if anyone shall come to you and say that he knows how to construct
283 bridges and that perhaps a time will come when you will wish to avail
284 yourself of his science in order to cross over a river, out with him! Out
285 with the engineer! Rivers will be crossed by wading or swimming them, even
286 if half the crusaders drown themselves. Let the engineer go off and build
287 bridges somewhere else, where they are badly wanted. For those who go in
288 quest of the sepulchre, faith is bridge enough.
290 =head2 v5.12.1 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
292 L<Announced on 2010-05-16 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/05/msg160109.html>
294 "Now suppose," chortled Dr. Breed, enjoying himself, "that there were
295 many possible ways in which water could crystallize, could freeze.
296 Suppose that the sort of ice we skate upon and put into highballs --
297 what we might call ice-one -- is only one of several types of ice.
298 Suppose water always froze as ice-one on Earth because it had never
299 had a seed to teach it how to form ice-two, ice-three, ice-four
300 ...? And suppose," he rapped on his desk with his old hand again,
301 "that there were one form, which we will call ice-nine -- a crystal as
302 hard as this desk -- with a melting point of, let us say, one-hundred
303 degrees Fahrenheit, or, better still, a melting point of one-hundred-
306 =head2 v5.12.1-RC2 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
308 L<Announced on 2010-05-13 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/05/msg160066.html>
310 San Lorenzo was fifty miles long and twenty miles wide, I learned from
311 the supplement to the New York Sunday Times. Its population was four
312 hundred, fifty thousand souls, "...all fiercely dedicated to the ideals
315 Its highest point, Mount McCabe, was eleven thousand feet above sea
316 level. Its capital was Bolivar, "...a strikingly modern city built on a
317 harbor capable of sheltering the entire United States Navy." The principal
318 exports were sugar, coffee, bananas, indigo, and handcrafted novelties.
320 =head2 v5.12.1-RC1 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
322 L<Announced on 2010-05-09 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/05/msg159971.html>
324 Which brings me to the Bokononist concept of a wampeter. A wampeter is
325 the pivot of a karass. No karass is without a wampeter, Bokonon tells us,
326 just as no wheel is without a hub. Anything can be a wampeter: a tree,
327 a rock, an animal, an idea, a book, a melody, the Holy Grail. Whatever
328 it is, the members of its karass revolve about it in the majestic chaos
329 of a spiral nebula. The orbits of the members of a karass about their
330 common wampeter are spiritual orbits, naturally. It is souls and not
331 bodies that revolve. As Bokonon invites us to sing:
333 Around and around and around we spin,
334 With feet of lead and wings of tin . . .
336 =head2 v5.13.0 - Jules Verne, "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth"
338 L<Announced on 2010-04-20 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg159275.html>
340 The heat still remained at quite a supportable degree. With an
341 involuntary shudder, I reflected on what the heat must have been
342 when the volcano of Sneffels was pouring its smoke, flames, and
343 streams of boiling lava -- all of which must have come up by the
344 road we were now following. I could imagine the torrents of hot
345 seething stone darting on, bubbling up with accompaniments of
346 smoke, steam, and sulphurous stench!
348 "Only to think of the consequences," I mused, "if the old
349 volcano were once more to set to work."
351 =head2 v5.12.0 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
353 L<Announced on 2010-04-12 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg158820.html>
355 'Please would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, for she was
356 not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, 'why
357 your cat grins like that?'
359 'It's a Cheshire cat,' said the Duchess, 'and that's why. Pig!'
361 She said the last word with such sudden violence that Alice quite
362 jumped; but she saw in another moment that it was addressed to the baby,
363 and not to her, so she took courage, and went on again:--
365 'I didn't know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn't know
366 that cats COULD grin.'
368 'They all can,' said the Duchess; 'and most of 'em do.'
370 =head2 v5.12.0-RC5 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
372 L<Announced on 2010-04-09 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg158720.html>
374 'Not QUITE right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; 'some of the words
377 'It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and
378 there was silence for some minutes.
380 =head2 v5.12.0-RC4 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
382 L<Announced on 2010-04-06 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg158567.html>
384 'It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, 'when one wasn't
385 always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and
386 rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and yet--and
387 yet--it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what
388 can have happened to me! When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that
389 kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!
391 =head2 v5.12.0-RC3 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
393 L<Announced on 2010-04-02 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg158346.html>
395 At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them,
396 called out, 'Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'LL soon make you
397 dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse
398 in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt
399 sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
401 'Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, 'are you all ready? This
402 is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! "William
403 the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted
404 to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much
405 accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of
406 Mercia and Northumbria --"'
408 =head2 v5.12.0-RC2 - no announcement
410 Available on CPAN since 2010-04-01.
412 =head2 v5.12.0-RC1 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
414 L<Announced on 2010-03-29 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/03/msg158060.html>
416 So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the
417 hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of
418 making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and
419 picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran
422 There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so
423 VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, 'Oh dear! Oh
424 dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it
425 occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time
426 it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH
427 OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on,
428 Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had
429 never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to
430 take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field
431 after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large
432 rabbit-hole under the hedge.
434 In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how
435 in the world she was to get out again.
437 =head2 v5.12.0-RC0 - no epigraph
439 L<Announced on 2020-03-21 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/03/msg157761.html>
441 =head2 v5.11.5 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Christabel"
443 L<Announced on 2010-02-21 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/02/msg156957.html>
445 A little child, a limber elf,
446 Singing, dancing to itself,
447 A fairy thing with red round cheeks,
448 That always finds, and never seeks,
449 Makes such a vision to the sight
450 As fills a father's eyes with light;
451 And pleasures flow in so thick and fast
452 Upon his heart, that he at last
453 Must needs express his love's excess
454 With words of unmeant bitterness.
455 Perhaps 'tis pretty to force together
456 Thoughts so all unlike each other;
457 To mutter and mock a broken charm,
458 To dally with wrong that does no harm.
459 Perhaps 'tis tender too and pretty
460 At each wild word to feel within
461 A sweet recoil of love and pity.
462 And what, if in a world of sin
463 (O sorrow and shame should this be true!)
464 Such giddiness of heart and brain
465 Comes seldom save from rage and pain,
466 So talks as it's most used to do.
468 =head2 v5.11.4 - Fyodor Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment"
470 L<Announced on 2010-01-20 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/01/msg155848.html>
472 And you don't suppose that I went into it headlong like a fool? I went
473 into it like a wise man, and that was just my destruction. And you
474 mustn't suppose that I didn't know, for instance, that if I began to
475 question myself whether I had the right to gain power -- I certainly
476 hadn't the right -- or that if I asked myself whether a human being is a
477 louse it proved that it wasn't so for me, though it might be for a man
478 who would go straight to his goal without asking questions.... If I
479 worried myself all those days, wondering whether Napoleon would have
480 done it or not, I felt clearly of course that I wasn't Napoleon.
482 =head2 v5.11.3 - Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
484 L<Announced on 2009-12-20 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/12/msg154838.html>
486 "Say -- I'm going in a swimming, I am. Don't you wish you could? But of
487 course you'd druther work -- wouldn't you? Course you would!"
489 Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said: "What do you call work?"
491 "Why ain't that work?"
493 Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly: "Well, maybe it
494 is, and maybe it aint. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer."
496 "Oh come, now, you don't mean to let on that you like it?"
498 The brush continued to move. "Like it? Well I don't see why I oughtn't
499 to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"
501 That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom
502 swept his brush daintily back and forth -- stepped back to note the effect
503 -- added a touch here and there-criticised the effect again -- Ben
504 watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more
505 absorbed. Presently he said: "Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."
507 =head2 v5.11.2 - Michael Marshall Smith, "Only Forward"
509 L<Announced on 2009-11-20 by |http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/11/msg153646.html>
511 The streets were pretty quiet, which was nice. They're always quiet here
512 at that time: you have to be wearing a black jacket to be out on the
513 streets between seven and nine in the evening, and not many people in
514 the area have black jackets. It's just one of those things. I currently
515 live in Colour Neighbourhood, which is for people who are heavily into
516 colour. All the streets and buildings are set for instant colourmatch:
517 as you walk down the road they change hue to offset whatever you're
518 wearing. When the streets are busy it's kind of intense, and anyone
519 prone to epileptic seizures isn't allowed to live in the Neighbourhood,
520 however much they're into colour.
522 =head2 v5.11.1 - Joseph Heller, "Catch-22"
524 L<Announced on 2009-10-20 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/10/msg152360.html>
526 Milo had been caught red-handed in the act of plundering his countrymen,
527 and, as a result, his stock had never been higher. He proved good as his
528 word when a rawboned major from Minnesota curled his lip in rebellious
529 disavowal and demanded his share of the syndicate Milo kept saying
530 everybody owned. Milo met the challenge by writing the words "A Share"
531 on the nearest scrap of paper and handing it away with a virtuous disdain
532 that won the envy and admiration of almost everyone who knew him. His
533 glory was at a peak, and Colonel Cathcart, who knew and admired his
534 war record, was astonished by the deferential humility with which Mil
535 presented himself at Group Headquarters and made his fantastic appeal
536 for more hazardous assignment.
538 =head2 v5.11.0 - Mikhail Bulgakov, "The Master and Margarita"
540 L<Announced on 2009-10-02 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/10/msg151376.html>
542 Whispers of an "evil power" were heard in lines at dairy shops, in
543 streetcars, stores, arguments, kitchens, suburban and long-distance
544 trains, at stations large and small, in dachas and on beaches. Needless
545 to say, truly mature and cultured people did not tell these stories
546 about an evil power's visit to the capital. In fact, they even made fun
547 of them and tried to talk sense into those who told them. Nevertheless,
548 facts are facts, as they say, and cannot simply be dismissed without
549 explanation: somebody had visited the capital. The charred cinders of
550 Griboyedov alone, and many other things besides, confirmed it. Cultured
551 people shared the point of view of the investigating team: it was the
552 work of a gang of hypnotists and ventriloquists magnificently skilled in
555 =head2 v5.10.1 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
557 L<Announced on 2009-09-23 by Dave Mitchell|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/08/msg150172.html>
559 'Briefly, sir, I am the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, known as
560 the Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private
561 Secretary. I, too, have a Principal Private Secretary, and he is the
562 Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly
563 responsible to me are ten Deputy Secretaries, eighty-seven Under
564 Secretaries and two hundred and nineteen Assistant Secretaries.
565 Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretaries are plain
566 Private Secretaries. The Prime Minister will be appointing two
567 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries and you will be appointing your own
568 Parliamentary Private Secretary.'
570 'Can they all type?' I joked.
572 'None of us can type, Minister,' replied Sir Humphrey smoothly. 'Mrs
573 McKay types - she is your Secretary.'
575 I couldn't tell whether or not he was joking. 'What a pity,' I said.
576 'We could have opened an agency.'
578 Sir Humphrey and Bernard laughed. 'Very droll, sir,' said Sir
579 Humphrey. 'Most amusing, sir,' said Bernard. Were they genuinely
580 amused at my wit, or just being rather patronising? 'I suppose they
581 all say that, do they?' I ventured.
583 Sir Humphrey reassured me on that. 'Certainly not, Minister,' he
584 replied. 'Not quite all.'
586 =head2 v5.10.1-RC2 - no epigraph
588 L<Announced on 2009-08-18 by Dave Mitchell|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/08/msg150015.html>
590 =head2 v5.10.1-RC1 - no epigraph
592 L<Announced on 2009-08-06 by Dave Mitchell|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/08/msg149498.html>
594 =head2 5.005_05-RC1 - no epigraph
596 L<Announced on 2009-02-16 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/02/msg144227.html>
598 =head2 v5.8.9 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
600 L<Announced on 2008-12-14 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2008/12/msg142571.html>
602 Frank and I, unlike the civil servants, were still puzzled that such a
603 proposal as the Europass could even be seriously under consideration by
604 the FCO. We can both see clearly that it is wonderful ammunition for the
605 anti-Europeans. I asked Humphrey if the Foreign Office doesn't realise
606 how damaging this would be to the European ideal?
608 'I'm sure they do, Minister, he said. That's why they support it.'
610 This was even more puzzling, since I'd always been under the impression
611 that the FO is pro-Europe. 'Is it or isn't it?' I asked Humphrey.
613 'Yes and no,' he replied of course, 'if you'll pardon the
614 expression. The Foreign Office is pro-Europe because it is really
615 anti-Europe. In fact the Civil Service was united in its desire to make
616 sure the Common Market didn't work. That's why we went into it.'
618 This sounded like a riddle to me. I asked him to explain further. And
619 basically his argument was as follows: Britain has had the same foreign
620 policy objective for at least the last five hundred years - to create a
621 disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against
622 the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and
623 Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Italians
624 and Germans. [The Dutch rebellion against Phillip II of Spain, the
625 Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War - Ed.]
627 In other words, divide and rule. And the Foreign Office can see no
628 reason to change when it has worked so well until now.
630 I was aware of this, naturally, but I regarded it as ancient history.
631 Humphrey thinks that it is, in fact, current policy. It was necessary
632 for us to break up the EEC, he explained, so we had to get inside. We
633 had previously tried to break it up from the outside, but that didn't
634 work. [A reference to our futile and short-lived involvement in EFTA,
635 the European Free Trade Association, founded in 1960 and which the UK
636 left in 1972 - Ed.] Now that we're in, we are able to make a complete
637 pig's breakfast out of it. We've now set the Germans against the French,
638 the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch... and
639 the Foreign office is terribly happy. It's just like old time.
641 I was staggered by all of this. I thought that the all of us who are
642 publicly pro-European believed in the European ideal. I said this to Sir
643 Humphrey, and he simply chuckled.
645 So I asked him: if we don't believe in the European Ideal, why are we
646 pushing to increase the membership?
648 'Same reason,' came the reply. 'It's just like the United Nations. The
649 more members it has, the more arguments you can stir up, and the more
650 futile and impotent it becomes.'
652 This all strikes me as the most appalling cynicism, and I said so.
654 Sir Humphrey agreed completely. 'Yes Minister. We call it
655 diplomacy. It's what made Britain great, you know.'
657 =head2 v5.8.9-RC2 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
659 L<Announced on 2008-12-06 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2008/11/msg142422.html>
661 There was silence in the office. I didn't know what we were going to do
662 about the four hundred new people supervising our economy drive or the
663 four hundred new people for the Bureaucratic Watchdog Office, or
664 anything! I simply sat and waited and hoped that my head would stop
665 thumping and that some idea would be suggested by someone sometime soon.
667 Sir Humphrey obliged. 'Minister... if we were to end the economy drive
668 and close the Bureaucratic Watchdog Office we could issue an immediate
669 press announcement that you had axed eight hundred jobs.' He had
670 obviously thought this out carefully in advance, for at this moment he
671 produced a slim folder from under his arm. 'If you'd like to approve
674 I couldn't believe the impertinence of the suggestion. Axed eight
675 hundred jobs? 'But no one was ever doing these jobs,' I pointed out
676 incredulously. 'No one's been appointed yet.'
678 'Even greater economy,' he replied instantly. 'We've saved eight hundred
679 redundancy payments as well.'
681 'But...' I attempted to explain '... that's just phony. It's dishonest,
682 it's juggling with figures, it's pulling the wool over people's eyes.'
684 'A government press release, in fact.' said Humphrey.
686 =head2 v5.8.9-RC1 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
688 L<Announced on 2008-11-10 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2008/11/msg141515.html>
690 A jumbo jet touched down, with BURANDAN AIRWAYS written on the side. I
691 was hugely impressed. British Airways are having to pawn their Concordes,
692 and here is this little tiny African state with its own airline, jumbo
695 I asked Bernard how many planes Burandan Airways had. 'None,' he said.
697 I told him not to be silly and use his eyes. 'No Minister, it belongs to
698 Freddie Laker,' he said. 'They chartered it last week and repainted it
699 specially.' Apparently most of the Have-Nots (I mean, LDCs) do this - at
700 the opening of the UN General Assembly the runways of Kennedy Airport are
701 jam-packed with phoney flag-carriers. 'In fact,' said Bernard with a sly
702 grin, 'there was one 747 that belonged to nine different African airlines
703 in a month. They called it the mumbo-jumbo.'
705 While we watched nothing much happening on the TV except the mumbo-jumbo
706 taxiing around Prestwick and the Queen looking a bit chilly, Bernard gave
707 me the next day's schedule and explained that I was booked on the night
708 sleeper from King's Cross to Edinburgh because I had to vote in a
709 three-line whip at the House tonight and would have to miss the last
710 plane. Then the commentator, in that special hushed BBC voice used for any
711 occasion with which Royalty is connected, announced reverentially that we
712 were about to catch our first glimpse of President Selim.
714 And out of the plane stepped Charlie. My old friend Charlie Umtali. We
715 were at LSE together. Not Selim Mohammed at all, but Charlie.
717 Bernard asked me if I were sure. Silly question. How could you forget a
718 name like Charlie Umtali?
720 I sent Bernard for Sir Humphrey, who was delighted to hear that we now
721 know something about our official visitor.
723 Bernard's official brief said nothing. Amazing! Amazing how little the FCO
724 has been able to find out. Perhaps they were hoping it would all be on the
725 car radio. All the brief says is that Colonel Selim Mohammed had converted
726 to Islam some years ago, they didn't know his original name, and therefore
727 knew little of his background.
729 I was able to tell Humphrey and Bernard /all/ about his background.
730 Charlie was a red-hot political economist, I informed them. Got the top
731 first. Wiped the floor with everyone.
733 Bernard seemed relieved. 'Well that's all right then.'
737 'I think Bernard means,' said Sir Humphrey helpfully, 'that he'll know how
738 to behave if he was at an English University. Even if it was the LSE.' I
739 never know whether or not Humphrey is insulting me intentionally.
741 Humphrey was concerned about Charlie's political colour. 'When you said
742 that he was red-hot, were you speaking politically?'
744 In a way I was. 'The thing about Charlie is that you never quite know
745 where you are with him. He's the sort of chap who follows you into a
746 revolving door and comes out in front.'
748 'No deeply held convictions?' asked Sir Humphrey.
750 'No. The only thing Charlie was committed too was Charlie.'
752 'Ah, I see. A politician, Minister.'
754 =head2 v5.10.0 - Laurence Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
756 L<Announced on 2007-12-18 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2007/12/msg131636.html>
758 He would often declare, in speaking his thoughts upon the subject, that
759 he did not conceive how the greatest family in England could stand it
760 out against an uninterrupted succession of six or seven short
761 noses.--And for the contrary reason, he would generally add, That it
762 must be one of the greatest problems in civil life, where the same
763 number of long and jolly noses, following one another in a direct line,
764 did not raise and hoist it up into the best vacancies in the kingdom.
766 =head2 v5.10.0-RC2 - no epigraph
768 L<Announced on 2007-11-25 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2007/11/msg130978.html>
770 =head2 v5.10.0-RC1 - no epigraph
772 L<Announced on 2007-11-17 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2007/11/msg130653.html>
774 =head2 v5.9.5 - no announcement
776 L<Pre-announced on 2007-07-07 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2007/07/msg126358.html>,
777 available on CPAN with same date, but never actually announced.
779 =head2 v5.9.4 - no epigraph
781 L<Announced on 2006-08-15 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2006/08/msg115782.html>
783 =head2 v5.8.8 - Joe Raposo, "Bein' Green"
785 L<Announced on 2006-02-01 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/28caf52e41ebe723>
787 It's not that easy bein' green
788 Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
789 When I think it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold
790 Or something much more colorful like that
792 It's not easy bein' green
793 It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
794 And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
795 Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
798 But green's the color of Spring
799 And green can be cool and friendly-like
800 And green can be big like an ocean
801 Or important like a mountain
804 When green is all there is to be
805 It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
806 Wonder I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful
807 And I think it's what I want to be
809 =head2 v5.9.3 - no epigraph
811 L<Announced on 2006-01-28 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2006/01/msg109086.html>
813 =head2 v5.8.8-RC1 - Cosgrove Hall Productions, "Dangermouse"
815 L<Announced on 2006-01-20 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/d231fc554af8cc51>
817 Greenback: And the world is mine, all mine. Muhahahahaha. See to it!
819 Stiletto: Si, Barone. Subito, Barone.
821 =head2 v5.8.7 - Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf"
823 L<Announced on 2005-05-31 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/9a545704a0062f16>
825 And now, imagine the triumphant procession: Peter at the head; after him the
826 hunters leading the wolf; and winding up the procession, grandfather and the
829 Grandfather shook his head discontentedly: "Well, and if Peter hadn't caught
830 the wolf? What then?"
832 =head2 v5.8.7-RC1 - Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf"
834 L<Announced on 2005-05-20 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2005/05/msg100711.html>
836 And now this is how things stood: The cat was sitting on one branch. The
837 bird on another, not too close to the cat. And the wolf walked round and
838 round the tree, looking at them with greedy eyes.
840 In the meantime, Peter, without the slightest fear, stood behind the
841 gate, watching all that was going on. He ran home,got a strong rope and
842 climbed up the high stone wall.
844 One of the branches of the tree, around which the wolf was walking,
845 stretched out over the wall.
847 Grabbing hold of the branch, Peter lightly climbed over on to the tree.
848 Peter said to the bird: "Fly down and circle round the wolf's head, only
849 take care that he doesn't catch you!".
851 The bird almost touched the wolf's head with its wings, while the wolf
852 snapped angrily at him from this side and that.
854 How that bird teased the wolf, how that wolf wanted to catch him! But
855 the bird was clever and the wolf simply couldn't do anything about it.
857 =head2 v5.9.2 - Thomas Pynchon, "V"
859 L<Announced on 2005-04-01 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=20050401150702.2b4a70d5@grubert.mandrakesoft.com>
861 This word flip was weird. Every recording date of McClintic's he'd
862 gotten into the habit of talking electricity with the audio men and
863 technicians of the studio. McClintic once couldn't have cared less
864 about electricity, but now it seemed if that was helping him reach a
865 bigger audience, some digging, some who would never dig, but all
866 paying and those royalties keeping the Triumph in gas and McClintic
867 in J. Press suits, then McClintic ought to be grateful to
868 electricity, ought maybe to learn a little more about it. So he'd
869 picked up some here and there, and one day last summer he got around
870 to talking stochastic music and digital computers with one
871 technician. Out of the conversation had come Set/Reset, which was
872 getting to be a signature for the group. He had found out from this
873 sound man about a two-triode circuit called a flip-flop, which when
874 it turned on could be one of two ways, depending on which tube was
875 conducting and which was cut off: set or reset, flip or flop.
877 "And that," the man said, "can be yes or no, or one or zero. And
878 that is what you might call one of the basic units, or specialized
879 `cells' in a big `electronic brain.' "
881 "Crazy," said McClintic, having lost him back there someplace. But
882 one thing that did occur to him was if a computer's brain could go
883 flip or flop, why so could a musician's. As long as you were flop,
884 everything was cool. But where did the trigger-pulse come from to
887 =head2 v5.8.6 - A. A. Milne, "The House at Pooh Corner"
889 L<Announced on 2004-11-28 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=20041128000836.GA304@Bagpuss.unfortu.net>
891 "Hallo, Pooh," said Piglet, giving a jump of surprise. "I knew it was
894 "So did I,", said Pooh. "What are you doing?"
896 "I'm planting a haycorn, Pooh, so that it can grow up into an oak-tree,
897 and have lots of haycorns just outside the front door instead of having
898 to walk miles and miles, do you see, Pooh?"
900 "Supposing it doesn't?" said Pooh.
902 "It will, because Christopher Robin says it will, so that's why I'm
905 "Well," aid Pooh, "if I plant a honeycomb outside my house, then it will
906 grow up into a beehive."
908 Piglet wasn't quite sure about this.
910 "Or a /piece/ of a honeycomb," said Pooh, "so as not to waste too much.
911 Only then I might only get a piece of a beehive, and it might be the
912 wrong piece, where the bees were buzzing and not hunnying. Bother"
914 Piglet agreed that that would be rather bothering.
916 "Besides, Pooh, it's a very difficult thing, planting unless you know
917 how to do it," he said; and he put the acorn in the hole he had made,
918 and covered it up with earth, and jumped on it.
920 =head2 v5.8.6-RC1 - A. A. Milne, "Winnie the Pooh"
922 L<Announced on 2004-11-11 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2004/11/msg95786.html>
924 "Hallo!" said Piglet, "whare are /you/ doing?"
926 "Hunting," said Pooh.
930 "Tracking something," said Winnie-the-Pooh very mysteriously.
932 "Tracking what?" said Piglet, coming closer.
934 "That's just what I ask myself, I ask myself, What?"
936 "What do you think you'll answer?"
938 "I shall have to wait until I catch up with it," said Winnie-the-Pooh.
939 "Now, look there." He pointed to the ground in front of him. "What do
942 "Track," said Piglet. "Paw-marks." He gave a little squeak of
943 excitement. "Oh, Pooh!" Do you think it's a--a--a Woozle?"
945 =head2 v5.8.5 - wikipedia, "Yew"
947 L<Announced on 2004-07-19 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/68340e2e4c39222c>
949 Yews are relatively slow growing trees, widely used in landscaping and
950 ornamental horticulture. They have flat, dark-green needles, reddish
951 bark, and bear seeds with red arils, which are eaten by thrushes,
952 waxwings and other birds, dispersing the hard seeds undamaged in their
953 droppings. Yew wood is reddish brown (with white sapwood), and very
954 hard. It was traditionally used to make bows, especially the English
957 In England, the Common Yew (Taxus baccata, also known as English Yew) is
958 often found in churchyards. It is sometimes suggested that these are
959 placed there as a symbol of long life or trees of death, and some are
960 likely to be over 3,000 years old. It is also suggested that yew trees
961 may have a pre-Christian association with old pagan holy sites, and the
962 Christian church found it expedient to use and take over existing sites.
963 Another explanation is that the poisonous berries and foliage discourage
964 farmers and drovers from letting their animals wander into the burial
965 grounds. The yew tree is a frequent symbol in the Christian poetry of
966 T.S. Eliot, especially his Four Quartets.
968 =head2 v5.8.5-RC2 - wikipedia, "Beech"
970 L<Announced on 2004-07-09 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/f92175725af7a5ad>
972 Beeches are trees of the Genus Fagus, family Fagaceae, including about
973 ten species in Europe, Asia, and North America. The leaves are entire or
974 sparsely toothed. The fruit is a small, sharply-angled nut, borne in
975 pairs in spiny husks. The beech most commonly grown as an ornamental or
976 shade tree is the European beech (Fagus sylvatica).
978 The southern beeches belong to a different but related genus,
979 Nothofagus. They are found in Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New
980 Caledonia and South America.
982 =head2 v5.8.5-RC1 - wikipedia, "Pedunculate Oak" (abridged)
984 L<Announced on 2004-07-07 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/ca6ce4a7ed9f219c?pli=1>
986 The Pedunculate Oak is called the Common Oak in Britain, and is also
987 often called the English Oak in other English speaking countries It is a
988 large deciduous tree to 25-35m tall (exceptionally to 40m), with lobed
989 and sessile (stalk-less) leaves. Flowering takes place in early to mid
990 spring, and their fruit, called "acorns", ripen by autumn of the same
991 year. The acorns are pedunculate (having a peduncle or acorn-stalk) and
992 may occur singly, or several acorns may occur on a stalk.
994 It forms a long-lived tree, with a large widespreading head of rugged
995 branches. While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many
996 of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques
997 that extend the tree's potential lifespan, if not its health.
999 Within its native range it is valued for its importance to insects and
1000 other wildlife. Numerous insects live on the leaves, buds, and in the
1001 acorns. The acorns form a valuable food resource for several small
1002 mammals and some birds, notably Jays Garrulus glandarius.
1004 It is planted for forestry, and produces a long-lasting and durable
1005 heartwood, much in demand for interior and furniture work.
1007 =head2 v5.8.4 - T. S. Eliot, "The Old Gumbie Cat"
1009 L<Announced on 2004-04-22 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/c7333acf03ef4015>
1011 I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
1012 The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots.
1013 She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that's smooth and flat:
1014 She sits and sits and sits and sits -- and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!
1016 But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
1017 Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
1018 She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment
1019 To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment.
1020 So she's formed, from that a lot of disorderly louts,
1021 A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts,
1022 With a purpose in life and a good deed to do--
1023 And she's even created a Beetles' Tattoo.
1025 So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers --
1026 On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.
1029 =head2 v5.8.4-RC2 - T. S. Eliot, "Macavity: The Mystery Cat"
1031 L<Announced on 2004-04-16 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/84f6fdd73cc56a1b>
1033 Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw --
1034 For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
1035 He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
1036 For when they reach the scene of crime -- /Macavity's not there/!
1038 Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
1039 He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
1040 His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
1041 And when you reach the scene of crime -- /Macavity's not there/!
1042 You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air --
1043 But I tell you once and once again, /Macavity's not there/!
1045 =head2 v5.8.4-RC1 - T. S. Eliot, "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"
1047 L<Announced on 2004-04-05 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/e500353440769ebf>
1049 There's a whisper down the line at 11.39
1050 When the Night Mail's ready to depart,
1051 Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble has he gone to hunt the thimble?
1052 We must find him of the train can't start.'
1053 All the guards and all the porters and the stationmaster's daughters
1054 They are searching high and low,
1055 Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble for unless he's very nimble
1056 Then the Night Mail just can't go'
1057 At 11.42 then the signal's overdue
1058 And the passengers are frantic to a man--
1059 Then Skimble will appear and he'll saunter to the rear:
1060 He's been busy in the luggage van!
1061 He gives one flash of his glass-green eyes
1062 And the the signal goes 'All Clear!'
1063 And we're off at last of the northern part
1064 Of the Northern Hemisphere!
1066 =head2 v5.9.1 - Tom Stoppard, "Arcadia"
1068 L<Announced on 2004-03-16 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/8587d77c565f2d43>
1070 Aren't you supposed to have a pony?
1072 =head2 5.005_04 - no epigraph
1074 L<Announced on 2004-03-01 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/6c240ad0b189cb47>
1076 =head2 5.005_04-RC2 - Rudyard Kipling, "The Jungle Book"
1078 L<Announced on 2004-02-19 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/83e5421124a7b49d>
1080 The monkeys called the place their city, and pretended to despise
1081 the Jungle-People because they lived in the forest. And yet they
1082 never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use
1083 them. They would sit in circles on the hall of the king's council
1084 chamber, and scratch for fleas and pretend to be men; or they would
1085 run in and out of the roofless houses and collect pieces of plaster
1086 and old bricks in a corner, and forget where they had hidden them,
1087 and fight and cry in scuffling crowds, and then break off to play up
1088 and down the terraces of the king's garden, where they would shake
1089 the rose trees and the oranges in sport to see the fruit and flowers
1092 =head2 5.005_04-RC1 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
1094 L<Announced on 2004-02-05 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/6aaeb6ec699bd116>
1096 Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had
1097 plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was
1098 going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what
1099 she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked
1100 at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with
1101 cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures
1102 hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she
1103 passed; it was labelled 'ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great
1104 disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear
1105 of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as
1108 =head2 v5.8.3 - Arthur William Edgar O'Shaugnessy, "Ode"
1110 L<Announced on 2004-01-14 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/968fb8d71e23af69>
1112 We are the music makers,
1113 And we are the dreamers of dreams,
1114 Wandering by lonely sea-breakers,
1115 And sitting by desolate streams; --
1116 World-losers and world-forsakers,
1117 On whom the pale moon gleams:
1118 Yet we are the movers and shakers
1119 Of the world for ever, it seems.
1121 =head2 v5.8.3-RC1 - Irving Berlin, "Let's Face the Music and Dance"
1123 L<Announced on 2004-01-07 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/5ced50bebcd11c96>
1125 There may be trouble ahead,
1126 But while there's music and moonlight,
1127 And love and romance,
1128 Let's face the music and dance.
1130 Before the fiddlers have fled,
1131 Before they ask us to pay the bill,
1132 And while we still have that chance,
1133 Let's face the music and dance.
1135 Soon, we'll be without the moon,
1136 Humming a different tune, and then,
1138 There may be teardrops to shed,
1139 So while there's music and moonlight,
1140 And love and romance,
1141 Let's face the music and dance.
1143 =head2 v1.0_16 - Johan Vromans, extemporarily
1145 L<Announced on 2003-12-18 by Richard Clamp|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/9281dc6194d15940>
1147 =head2 v5.6.2 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
1149 L<Announced on 2003-11-15 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/deb8cb9ad918716f>
1151 When great or unexpected events fall out upon the stage of this
1152 sublunary word--the mind of man, which is an inquisitive kind of
1153 a substance, naturally takes a flight, behind the scenes, to see
1154 what is the cause and first spring of them--The search was not
1155 long in this instance.
1157 =head2 v5.6.2-RC1 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
1159 L<Announced on 2003-11-15 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/e3d4acc7a8dd3ce5>
1161 "Pray, my dear", quoth my mother, "have you not forgot to wind up the clock?"
1163 =head2 v5.8.2 - Walt Whitman, "Passage to India"
1165 L<Announced on 2003-11-06 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/4714574f93967673>
1167 Passage, immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins!
1168 Away O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!
1169 Cut the hawsers - hall out - shake out every sail!
1170 Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough?
1171 Have we not grovel'd here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?
1172 Have we not darken'd and dazed ourselves with books long enough?
1174 Sail forth - steer for the deep waters only,
1175 Reckless O soul, exploring, I with the and thou with me,
1176 For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
1177 And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.
1180 O farther farther sail!
1181 O daring job, but safe! are they not all the seas of God?
1182 O farther, farther, farther sail!
1184 =head2 v5.8.2-RC2 - Eric Idle/John Du Prez, "Accountancy Shanty"
1186 L<Announced on 2003-11-03 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/7669de5804b792f6>
1188 It's fun to charter an accountant
1189 And sail the wide accountan-cy,
1190 To find, explore the funds offshore
1191 And skirt the shoals of bankruptcy.
1193 =head2 v5.8.2-RC1 - Edward Lear, "The Jumblies"
1195 L<Announced on 2003-10-28 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/83680ef3bbf7378d>
1197 They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
1198 In a Sieve they went to sea:
1199 In spite of all their friends could say,
1200 On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
1201 In a Sieve they went to sea!
1202 And when the Sieve turned round and round,
1203 And everyone cried, "You'll all be drowned!"
1204 They cried aloud, "Our Sieve ain't big,
1205 But we don't care a button, we don't care a fig!
1206 In a Sieve we'll go to sea!"
1208 Far and few, far and few,
1209 Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
1210 Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
1211 And they went to sea in a Sieve.
1213 =head2 v5.9.0 - Doris Lessing, "Martha Quest"
1215 L<Announced on 2003-10-27 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/63a8c34385de82a1>
1217 What of October, that ambiguous month
1219 =head2 v5.8.1 - epigraph same as v5.7.1
1221 L<Announced on 2003-09-25 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/09/msg82678.html>
1223 =head2 v5.8.1-RC5 - Terry Pratchett, "Lords and Ladies"
1225 L<Announced on 2003-09-22 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/09/msg82476.html>
1227 No matter what she did with her hair it took about
1228 three minutes for it to tangle itself up again,
1229 like a garden hosepipe in a shed [Footnote: Which,
1230 no matter how carefully coiled, will always uncoil
1231 overnight and tie the lawnmower to the bicycles].
1233 =head2 v5.8.1-RC4 - Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times"
1235 L<Announced on 2003-08-01 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/08/msg79184.html>
1237 Grand Viziers were /always/ scheming megalomaniacs.
1238 It was probably in the job description: "Are you a
1239 devious, plotting, unreliable madman? Ah, good,
1240 then you can be my most trusted minister."
1242 =head2 v5.8.1-RC3 - Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times"
1244 L<Announced on 2003-07-30 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/07/msg79048.html>
1246 Lord Hong had a mind like a knife, although possibly
1247 a knife with a curved blade.
1249 =head2 v5.8.1-RC2 - Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times"
1251 L<Announced on 2003-07-11 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/07/msg78102.html>
1253 Many an ancient lord's last words had been, "You can't kill
1254 me because I've got magic aaargh."
1256 =head2 v5.8.1-RC1 - Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times"
1258 L<Announced on 2003-07-10 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/07/msg78009.html>
1260 Cohen was familiar with city gates. He'd broken down a number
1261 in his time, by battering ram, siege gun, and on one occasion
1264 But the gates of Hunghung were pretty damn good gates. They
1265 weren't like the gates of Ankh-Morpork, which were usually wide
1266 open to attract the spending customer and whose concession to
1267 defense was the sign "Thank You For Not Attacking Our City.
1268 Bonum Diem." These things were big and made of metal and there
1269 was a guardhouse and a squad of unhelpful men in black armor.
1271 =head2 v5.6.2 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
1273 L<Announced on 2003-11-15 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/deb8cb9ad918716f>
1275 When great or unexpected events fall out upon the stage of this
1276 sublunary word--the mind of man, which is an inquisitive kind of
1277 a substance, naturally takes a flight, behind the scenes, to see
1278 what is the cause and first spring of them--The search was not
1279 long in this instance.
1281 =head2 v5.6.2-RC1 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
1283 L<Announced on 2003-11-08 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/e3d4acc7a8dd3ce5>
1285 "Pray, my dear", quoth my mother, "have you not forgot to wind up the clock?"
1287 =head2 v5.8.0 - Terry Pratchett, "Reaper Man"
1289 L<Announced on 2002-07-18 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/07/msg63720.html>
1291 There was the faint sound of footsteps.
1292 "Chap with a whip got as far as the big sharp spikes last week,"
1293 said the low priest.
1294 There was a sound like the flushing of a very old dry lavatory.
1295 The footsteps stopped. The High Priest smiled to himself.
1296 "Right," he said. "See your two pebbles and raise you two pebbles."
1297 The low priest threw down his cards. "Double Onion," he said.
1298 The High Priest looked down suspiciously.
1299 The low priest consulted a scrap of paper. "That's three hundred
1300 thousand, nine hundred and sixty-four pebbles you owe me," he said.
1301 There was the sound of footsteps. The priests exchanged glances.
1302 "Haven't had one for poisoned-dart alley for quite some time,"
1303 said the High Priest.
1304 "Five says he makes it", said the low priest. "You're on."
1305 There was a faint clatter of metal points on stone.
1306 "It's a shame to take your pebbles."
1307 There were footsteps again.
1309 =head2 v5.8.0-RC3 - no epigraph
1311 L<Announced on 2002-07-13 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/07/msg63234.html>
1313 =head2 v5.8.0-RC2 - no epigraph
1315 L<Announced on 2002-06-21 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/06/msg62013.html>
1317 =head2 v5.8.0-RC1 - no epigraph
1319 L<Announced on 2002-06-01 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/06/msg60317.html>
1321 =head2 v5.7.3 - Terry Pratchett, "Reaper Man"
1323 L<Announced on 2002-03-04 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/03/msg53652.html>
1325 Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong.
1326 No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always
1327 got there first, and is waiting for it.
1329 =head2 v5.7.2 - Terry Pratchett, "Small Gods"
1331 L<Announced on 2001-07-13 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/07/msg40370.html>
1333 His philosophy was a mixture of three famous schools --
1334 the Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans -- and summed up
1335 all three of them in his famous phrase, "You can't trust any
1336 bugger further than you can throw him, and there's nothing
1337 you can do about it, so let's have a drink."
1339 =head2 v5.7.1 - Terry Pratchett, "The Colour of Magic"
1341 L<Announced on 2001-07-13 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/04/msg33851.html>
1343 "What happens next?" asked Twoflower.
1345 Hrun screwed a finger in his ear and inspected it absently.
1347 "Oh,", he said, "I expect in a minute the door will be
1348 flung back and I'll be dragged off to some sort of temple
1349 arena where I'll fight maybe a couple of giant spiders
1350 and an eight-foot slave from the jungles of Klatch and then
1351 I'll rescue some kind of a princess from the altar and then
1352 I'll kill off a few guards or whatever and then this girl
1353 will show me the secret passage out of the place and we'll
1354 liberate a couple of horses and escape with the treasure."
1355 Hrun leaned his head back on his hands and looked at the
1356 ceiling, whistling tunelessly.
1358 "All that?" said Twoflower.
1362 =head2 v5.6.1 - J R R Tolkien, "The Hobbit", Riddles in the Dark
1364 L<Announced on 2001-04-08 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/04/msg33823.html>
1366 `What have I got in my pocket?' he said aloud. He was talking to
1367 himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was frightfully
1370 `Not fair! not fair!' he hissed. `It isn't fair, my precious, is it,
1371 to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?'
1373 Bilbo seeing what had happened and having nothing better to ask
1374 stuck to his question, `What have I got in my pocket?' he said
1377 `S-s-s-s-s,' hissed Gollum. `It must give us three guesseses,
1378 my precious, three guesseses.'
1380 =head2 v5.6.1-foolish - no epigraph
1382 L<Announced on 2001-08-04 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/04/msg33421.html>
1384 =head2 v5.6.1-TRIAL3 - I can't find the announcement
1386 No announcement available.
1388 =head2 v5.6.1-TRIAL2 - no epigraph
1390 L<Announced on 2001-01-31 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/01/msg29934.html>
1392 =head2 v5.6.1-TRIAL1 - no epigraph
1394 L<Announced on 2000-12-18 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2000/12/msg27738.html>
1396 =head2 v5.7.0 - Terry Pratchett, "Moving Pictures"
1398 L<Announced on 2000-09-02 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2000/09/msg17730.html>
1400 The Librarian had seen many weird things in his time,
1401 but that had to be the 57th strangest.
1402 [footnote: he had a tidy mind]
1404 =head2 v5.6.0 - J R R Tolkien, "The Hobbit", The Last Stage
1406 L<Announced on 2000-03-23 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2000/03/msg10341.html>
1408 The dragon is withered,
1409 His bones are now crumbled;
1410 His armour is shivered,
1411 His splendour is humbled!
1412 Though sword shall be rusted,
1413 And throne and crown perish
1414 With strength that men trusted
1415 And wealth that they cherish,
1416 Here grass is still growing,
1417 And leaves are a yet swinging,
1418 The white water flowing,
1419 And elves are yet singing
1420 Come! Tra-la-la-lally!
1421 Come back to the valley.
1424 =head2 v5.6.0-RC3 - no epigraph
1426 L<Announced on 2000-03-22 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2000/03/msg10140.html>
1428 =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1430 This document was originally compiled based on a list of epigraphs
1431 on L<Perl Monks|http://perlmonks.org> titled
1432 L<Recent Perl Release Announcement|http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=372406>