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"
22 The heat still remained at quite a supportable degree. With an
23 involuntary shudder, I reflected on what the heat must have been
24 when the volcano of Sneffels was pouring its smoke, flames, and
25 streams of boiling lava -- all of which must have come up by the
26 road we were now following. I could imagine the torrents of hot
27 seething stone darting on, bubbling up with accompaniments of
28 smoke, steam, and sulphurous stench!
30 "Only to think of the consequences," I mused, "if the old
31 volcano were once more to set to work."
35 =head2 v5.12.1 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
39 "Now suppose," chortled Dr. Breed, enjoying himself, "that there were
40 many possible ways in which water could crystallize, could freeze.
41 Suppose that the sort of ice we skate upon and put into highballs—
42 what we might call ice-one—is only one of several types of ice.
43 Suppose water always froze as ice-one on Earth because it had never
44 had a seed to teach it how to form ice-two, ice-three, ice-four
45 ...? And suppose," he rapped on his desk with his old hand again,
46 "that there were one form, which we will call ice-nine—a crystal as
47 hard as this desk—with a melting point of, let us say, one-hundred
48 degrees Fahrenheit, or, better still, a melting point of one-hundred-
53 =head2 v5.12.1-RC2 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
57 San Lorenzo was fifty miles long and twenty miles wide, I learned from
58 the supplement to the New York Sunday Times. Its population was four
59 hundred, fifty thousand souls, "...all fiercely dedicated to the ideals
62 Its highest point, Mount McCabe, was eleven thousand feet above sea
63 level. Its capital was Bolivar, "...a strikingly modern city built on a
64 harbor capable of sheltering the entire United States Navy." The principal
65 exports were sugar, coffee, bananas, indigo, and handcrafted novelties.
69 =head2 v5.12.1-RC2 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
73 Which brings me to the Bokononist concept of a wampeter. A wampeter is
74 the pivot of a karass. No karass is without a wampeter, Bokonon tells us,
75 just as no wheel is without a hub. Anything can be a wampeter: a tree,
76 a rock, an animal, an idea, a book, a melody, the Holy Grail. Whatever
77 it is, the members of its karass revolve about it in the majestic chaos
78 of a spiral nebula. The orbits of the members of a karass about their
79 common wampeter are spiritual orbits, naturally. It is souls and not
80 bodies that revolve. As Bokonon invites us to sing:
82 Around and around and around we spin,
83 With feet of lead and wings of tin . . .
87 =head2 v5.12.0 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
91 'Please would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, for she was
92 not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, 'why
93 your cat grins like that?'
95 'It's a Cheshire cat,' said the Duchess, 'and that's why. Pig!'
97 She said the last word with such sudden violence that Alice quite
98 jumped; but she saw in another moment that it was addressed to the baby,
99 and not to her, so she took courage, and went on again:--
101 'I didn't know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn't know
102 that cats COULD grin.'
104 'They all can,' said the Duchess; 'and most of 'em do.'
108 =head2 v5.12.0-RC5 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
112 'Not QUITE right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; 'some of the words
115 'It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and
116 there was silence for some minutes.
120 =head2 v5.12.0-RC4 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
124 'It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, 'when one wasn't
125 always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and
126 rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and yet--and
127 yet--it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what
128 can have happened to me! When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that
129 kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!
133 =head2 v5.12.0-RC3 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
137 At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them,
138 called out, 'Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'LL soon make you
139 dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse
140 in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt
141 sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
143 'Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, 'are you all ready? This
144 is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! "William
145 the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted
146 to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much
147 accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of
148 Mercia and Northumbria—"'
152 =head2 v5.12.0-RC2 - no epigraph
154 =head2 v5.12.0-RC1 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
158 So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the
159 hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of
160 making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and
161 picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran
164 There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so
165 VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, 'Oh dear! Oh
166 dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it
167 occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time
168 it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH
169 OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on,
170 Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had
171 never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to
172 take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field
173 after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large
174 rabbit-hole under the hedge.
176 In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how
177 in the world she was to get out again.
181 =head2 v5.12.0-RC0 - no epigraph
183 =head2 v5.11.5 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Christabel"
187 A little child, a limber elf,
188 Singing, dancing to itself,
189 A fairy thing with red round cheeks,
190 That always finds, and never seeks,
191 Makes such a vision to the sight
192 As fills a father's eyes with light;
193 And pleasures flow in so thick and fast
194 Upon his heart, that he at last
195 Must needs express his love's excess
196 With words of unmeant bitterness.
197 Perhaps 'tis pretty to force together
198 Thoughts so all unlike each other;
199 To mutter and mock a broken charm,
200 To dally with wrong that does no harm.
201 Perhaps 'tis tender too and pretty
202 At each wild word to feel within
203 A sweet recoil of love and pity.
204 And what, if in a world of sin
205 (O sorrow and shame should this be true!)
206 Such giddiness of heart and brain
207 Comes seldom save from rage and pain,
208 So talks as it's most used to do.
212 =head2 v5.11.4 - Fyodor Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment"
216 And you don't suppose that I went into it headlong like a fool? I went
217 into it like a wise man, and that was just my destruction. And you
218 mustn't suppose that I didn't know, for instance, that if I began to
219 question myself whether I had the right to gain power -- I certainly
220 hadn't the right -- or that if I asked myself whether a human being is a
221 louse it proved that it wasn't so for me, though it might be for a man
222 who would go straight to his goal without asking questions.... If I
223 worried myself all those days, wondering whether Napoleon would have
224 done it or not, I felt clearly of course that I wasn't Napoleon.
228 =head2 v5.11.3 - Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
232 "Say -- I'm going in a swimming, I am. Don't you wish you could? But of
233 course you'd druther work—wouldn't you? Course you would!"
235 Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said: "What do you call work?"
237 "Why ain't that work?"
239 Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly: "Well, maybe it
240 is, and maybe it aint. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer."
242 "Oh come, now, you don't mean to let on that you like it?"
244 The brush continued to move. "Like it? Well I don't see why I oughtn't
245 to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"
247 That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom
248 swept his brush daintily back and forth -- stepped back to note the effect
249 -- added a touch here and there-criticised the effect again -- Ben
250 watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more
251 absorbed. Presently he said: "Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."
256 =head2 v5.11.2 - Michael Marshall Smith, "Only Forward"
260 The streets were pretty quiet, which was nice. They're always quiet here
261 at that time: you have to be wearing a black jacket to be out on the
262 streets between seven and nine in the evening, and not many people in
263 the area have black jackets. It's just one of those things. I currently
264 live in Colour Neighbourhood, which is for people who are heavily into
265 colour. All the streets and buildings are set for instant colourmatch:
266 as you walk down the road they change hue to offset whatever you're
267 wearing. When the streets are busy it's kind of intense, and anyone
268 prone to epileptic seizures isn't allowed to live in the Neighbourhood,
269 however much they're into colour.
273 =head2 v5.11.1 - Joseph Heller, "Catch-22"
277 Milo had been caught red-handed in the act of plundering his countrymen,
278 and, as a result, his stock had never been higher. He proved good as his
279 word when a rawboned major from Minnesota curled his lip in rebellious
280 disavowal and demanded his share of the syndicate Milo kept saying
281 everybody owned. Milo met the challenge by writing the words "A Share"
282 on the nearest scrap of paper and handing it away with a virtuous disdain
283 that won the envy and admiration of almost everyone who knew him. His
284 glory was at a peak, and Colonel Cathcart, who knew and admired his
285 war record, was astonished by the deferential humility with which Mil
286 presented himself at Group Headquarters and made his fantastic appeal
287 for more hazardous assignment.
291 =head2 v5.11.0 - Mikhail Bulgakov, "The Master and Margarita"
295 Whispers of an "evil power" were heard in lines at dairy shops, in
296 streetcars, stores, arguments, kitchens, suburban and long-distance
297 trains, at stations large and small, in dachas and on beaches. Needless
298 to say, truly mature and cultured people did not tell these stories
299 about an evil power's visit to the capital. In fact, they even made fun
300 of them and tried to talk sense into those who told them. Nevertheless,
301 facts are facts, as they say, and cannot simply be dismissed without
302 explanation: somebody had visited the capital. The charred cinders of
303 Griboyedov alone, and many other things besides, confirmed it. Cultured
304 people shared the point of view of the investigating team: it was the
305 work of a gang of hypnotists and ventriloquists magnificently skilled in
311 =head2 v5.10.1 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
315 'Briefly, sir, I am the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, known as
316 the Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private
317 Secretary. I, too, have a Principal Private Secretary, and he is the
318 Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly
319 responsible to me are ten Deputy Secretaries, eighty-seven Under
320 Secretaries and two hundred and nineteen Assistant Secretaries.
321 Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretaries are plain
322 Private Secretaries. The Prime Minister will be appointing two
323 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries and you will be appointing your own
324 Parliamentary Private Secretary.'
326 'Can they all type?' I joked.
328 'None of us can type, Minister,' replied Sir Humphrey smoothly. 'Mrs
329 McKay types - she is your Secretary.'
331 I couldn't tell whether or not he was joking. 'What a pity,' I said.
332 'We could have opened an agency.'
334 Sir Humphrey and Bernard laughed. 'Very droll, sir,' said Sir
335 Humphrey. 'Most amusing, sir,' said Bernard. Were they genuinely
336 amused at my wit, or just being rather patronising? 'I suppose they
337 all say that, do they?' I ventured.
339 Sir Humphrey reassured me on that. 'Certainly not, Minister,' he
340 replied. 'Not quite all.'
344 =head2 v5.10.1-RC2 - no epigraph
346 =head2 v5.10.1-RC1 - no epigraph
348 =head2 v5.10.0 - Laurence Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
352 He would often declare, in speaking his thoughts upon the subject, that
353 he did not conceive how the greatest family in England could stand it
354 out against an uninterrupted succession of six or seven short
355 noses.--And for the contrary reason, he would generally add, That it
356 must be one of the greatest problems in civil life, where the same
357 number of long and jolly noses, following one another in a direct line,
358 did not raise and hoist it up into the best vacancies in the kingdom.
362 =head2 v5.10.0-RC2 - no epigraph
364 =head2 v5.10.0-RC1 - no epigraph
366 =head2 v5.9.5 - no epigraph
368 =head2 v5.9.4 - no epigraph
370 =head2 v5.9.3 - no epigraph
372 =head2 v5.9.2 - Thomas Pynchon, "V"
376 This word flip was weird. Every recording date of McClintic's he'd
377 gotten into the habit of talking electricity with the audio men and
378 technicians of the studio. McClintic once couldn't have cared less
379 about electricity, but now it seemed if that was helping him reach a
380 bigger audience, some digging, some who would never dig, but all
381 paying and those royalties keeping the Triumph in gas and McClintic
382 in J. Press suits, then McClintic ought to be grateful to
383 electricity, ought maybe to learn a little more about it. So he'd
384 picked up some here and there, and one day last summer he got around
385 to talking stochastic music and digital computers with one
386 technician. Out of the conversation had come Set/Reset, which was
387 getting to be a signature for the group. He had found out from this
388 sound man about a two-triode circuit called a flip-flop, which when
389 it turned on could be one of two ways, depending on which tube was
390 conducting and which was cut off: set or reset, flip or flop.
392 "And that," the man said, "can be yes or no, or one or zero. And
393 that is what you might call one of the basic units, or specialized
394 `cells' in a big `electronic brain.' "
396 "Crazy," said McClintic, having lost him back there someplace. But
397 one thing that did occur to him was if a computer's brain could go
398 flip or flop, why so could a musician's. As long as you were flop,
399 everything was cool. But where did the trigger-pulse come from to
404 =head2 v5.9.1 - Tom Stoppard, "Arcadia"
408 Aren't you supposed to have a pony?
412 =head2 v5.9.0 - Doris Lessing, "Martha Quest"
416 What of October, that ambiguous month
420 =head2 v5.8.9 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
424 Frank and I, unlike the civil servants, were still puzzled that such a
425 proposal as the Europass could even be seriously under consideration by
426 the FCO. We can both see clearly that it is wonderful ammunition for the
427 anti-Europeans. I asked Humphrey if the Foreign Office doesn't realise
428 how damaging this would be to the European ideal?
430 'I'm sure they do, Minister, he said. That's why they support it.'
432 This was even more puzzling, since I'd always been under the impression
433 that the FO is pro-Europe. 'Is it or isn't it?' I asked Humphrey.
435 'Yes and no,' he replied of course, 'if you'll pardon the
436 expression. The Foreign Office is pro-Europe because it is really
437 anti-Europe. In fact the Civil Service was united in its desire to make
438 sure the Common Market didn't work. That's why we went into it.'
440 This sounded like a riddle to me. I asked him to explain further. And
441 basically his argument was as follows: Britain has had the same foreign
442 policy objective for at least the last five hundred years - to create a
443 disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against
444 the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and
445 Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Italians
446 and Germans. [The Dutch rebellion against Phillip II of Spain, the
447 Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War - Ed.]
449 In other words, divide and rule. And the Foreign Office can see no
450 reason to change when it has worked so well until now.
452 I was aware of this, naturally, but I regarded it as ancient history.
453 Humphrey thinks that it is, in fact, current policy. It was necessary
454 for us to break up the EEC, he explained, so we had to get inside. We
455 had previously tried to break it up from the outside, but that didn't
456 work. [A reference to our futile and short-lived involvement in EFTA,
457 the European Free Trade Association, founded in 1960 and which the UK
458 left in 1972 - Ed.] Now that we're in, we are able to make a complete
459 pig's breakfast out of it. We've now set the Germans against the French,
460 the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch... and
461 the Foreign office is terribly happy. It's just like old time.
463 I was staggered by all of this. I thought that the all of us who are
464 publicly pro-European believed in the European ideal. I said this to Sir
465 Humphrey, and he simply chuckled.
467 So I asked him: if we don't believe in the European Ideal, why are we
468 pushing to increase the membership?
470 'Same reason,' came the reply. 'It's just like the United Nations. The
471 more members it has, the more arguments you can stir up, and the more
472 futile and impotent it becomes.'
474 This all strikes me as the most appalling cynicism, and I said so.
476 Sir Humphrey agreed completely. 'Yes Minister. We call it
477 diplomacy. It's what made Britain great, you know.'
481 =head2 v5.8.9-RC2 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
485 There was silence in the office. I didn't know what we were going to do
486 about the four hundred new people supervising our economy drive or the
487 four hundred new people for the Bureaucratic Watchdog Office, or
488 anything! I simply sat and waited and hoped that my head would stop
489 thumping and that some idea would be suggested by someone sometime soon.
491 Sir Humphrey obliged. 'Minister... if we were to end the economy drive
492 and close the Bureaucratic Watchdog Office we could issue an immediate
493 press announcement that you had axed eight hundred jobs.' He had
494 obviously thought this out carefully in advance, for at this moment he
495 produced a slim folder from under his arm. 'If you'd like to approve
498 I couldn't believe the impertinence of the suggestion. Axed eight
499 hundred jobs? 'But no one was ever doing these jobs,' I pointed out
500 incredulously. 'No one's been appointed yet.'
502 'Even greater economy,' he replied instantly. 'We've saved eight hundred
503 redundancy payments as well.'
505 'But...' I attempted to explain '... that's just phony. It's dishonest,
506 it's juggling with figures, it's pulling the wool over people's eyes.'
508 'A government press release, in fact.' said Humphrey.
512 =head2 v5.8.9-RC1 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
516 A jumbo jet touched down, with BURANDAN AIRWAYS written on the side. I
517 was hugely impressed. British Airways are having to pawn their Concordes,
518 and here is this little tiny African state with its own airline, jumbo
521 I asked Bernard how many planes Burandan Airways had. 'None,' he said.
523 I told him not to be silly and use his eyes. 'No Minister, it belongs to
524 Freddie Laker,' he said. 'They chartered it last week and repainted it
525 specially.' Apparently most of the Have-Nots (I mean, LDCs) do this - at
526 the opening of the UN General Assembly the runways of Kennedy Airport are
527 jam-packed with phoney flag-carriers. 'In fact,' said Bernard with a sly
528 grin, 'there was one 747 that belonged to nine different African airlines
529 in a month. They called it the mumbo-jumbo.'
531 While we watched nothing much happening on the TV except the mumbo-jumbo
532 taxiing around Prestwick and the Queen looking a bit chilly, Bernard gave
533 me the next day's schedule and explained that I was booked on the night
534 sleeper from King's Cross to Edinburgh because I had to vote in a
535 three-line whip at the House tonight and would have to miss the last
536 plane. Then the commentator, in that special hushed BBC voice used for any
537 occasion with which Royalty is connected, announced reverentially that we
538 were about to catch our first glimpse of President Selim.
540 And out of the plane stepped Charlie. My old friend Charlie Umtali. We
541 were at LSE together. Not Selim Mohammed at all, but Charlie.
543 Bernard asked me if I were sure. Silly question. How could you forget a
544 name like Charlie Umtali?
546 I sent Bernard for Sir Humphrey, who was delighted to hear that we now
547 know something about our official visitor.
549 Bernard's official brief said nothing. Amazing! Amazing how little the FCO
550 has been able to find out. Perhaps they were hoping it would all be on the
551 car radio. All the brief says is that Colonel Selim Mohammed had converted
552 to Islam some years ago, they didn't know his original name, and therefore
553 knew little of his background.
555 I was able to tell Humphrey and Bernard /all/ about his background.
556 Charlie was a red-hot political economist, I informed them. Got the top
557 first. Wiped the floor with everyone.
559 Bernard seemed relieved. 'Well that's all right then.'
563 'I think Bernard means,' said Sir Humphrey helpfully, 'that he'll know how
564 to behave if he was at an English University. Even if it was the LSE.' I
565 never know whether or not Humphrey is insulting me intentionally.
567 Humphrey was concerned about Charlie's political colour. 'When you said
568 that he was red-hot, were you speaking politically?'
570 In a way I was. 'The thing about Charlie is that you never quite know
571 where you are with him. He's the sort of chap who follows you into a
572 revolving door and comes out in front.'
574 'No deeply held convictions?' asked Sir Humphrey.
576 'No. The only thing Charlie was committed too was Charlie.'
578 'Ah, I see. A politician, Minister.'
582 =head2 v5.8.8 - Joe Raposo, "Bein' Green"
586 It's not that easy bein' green
587 Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
588 When I think it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold
589 Or something much more colorful like that
591 It's not easy bein' green
592 It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
593 And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
594 Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
597 But green's the color of Spring
598 And green can be cool and friendly-like
599 And green can be big like an ocean
600 Or important like a mountain
603 When green is all there is to be
604 It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
605 Wonder I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful
606 And I think it's what I want to be
610 =head2 v5.8.8-RC1 - Cosgrove Hall Productions, "Dangermouse"
614 Greenback: And the world is mine, all mine. Muhahahahaha. See to it!
616 Stiletto: Si, Barone. Subito, Barone.
620 =head2 v5.8.7 - Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf"
624 And now, imagine the triumphant procession: Peter at the head; after him the
625 hunters leading the wolf; and winding up the procession, grandfather and the
628 Grandfather shook his head discontentedly: "Well, and if Peter hadn't caught
629 the wolf? What then?"
633 =head2 v5.8.7-RC1 - Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf"
637 And now this is how things stood: The cat was sitting on one branch. The
638 bird on another, not too close to the cat. And the wolf walked round and
639 round the tree, looking at them with greedy eyes.
641 In the meantime, Peter, without the slightest fear, stood behind the
642 gate, watching all that was going on. He ran home,got a strong rope and
643 climbed up the high stone wall.
645 One of the branches of the tree, around which the wolf was walking,
646 stretched out over the wall.
648 Grabbing hold of the branch, Peter lightly climbed over on to the tree.
649 Peter said to the bird: "Fly down and circle round the wolf's head, only
650 take care that he doesn't catch you!".
652 The bird almost touched the wolf's head with its wings, while the wolf
653 snapped angrily at him from this side and that.
655 How that bird teased the wolf, how that wolf wanted to catch him! But
656 the bird was clever and the wolf simply couldn't do anything about it.
660 =head2 v5.8.6 - A. A. Milne, "The House at Pooh Corner"
664 "Hallo, Pooh," said Piglet, giving a jump of surprise. "I knew it was
667 "So did I,", said Pooh. "What are you doing?"
669 "I'm planting a haycorn, Pooh, so that it can grow up into an oak-tree,
670 and have lots of haycorns just outside the front door instead of having
671 to walk miles and miles, do you see, Pooh?"
673 "Supposing it doesn't?" said Pooh.
675 "It will, because Christopher Robin says it will, so that's why I'm
678 "Well," aid Pooh, "if I plant a honeycomb outside my house, then it will
679 grow up into a beehive."
681 Piglet wasn't quite sure about this.
683 "Or a /piece/ of a honeycomb," said Pooh, "so as not to waste too much.
684 Only then I might only get a piece of a beehive, and it might be the
685 wrong piece, where the bees were buzzing and not hunnying. Bother"
687 Piglet agreed that that would be rather bothering.
689 "Besides, Pooh, it's a very difficult thing, planting unless you know
690 how to do it," he said; and he put the acorn in the hole he had made,
691 and covered it up with earth, and jumped on it.
695 =head2 v5.8.6-RC1 - A. A. Milne, "Winnie the Pooh"
699 "Hallo!" said Piglet, "whare are /you/ doing?"
701 "Hunting," said Pooh.
705 "Tracking something," said Winnie-the-Pooh very mysteriously.
707 "Tracking what?" said Piglet, coming closer.
709 "That's just what I ask myself, I ask myself, What?"
711 "What do you think you'll answer?"
713 "I shall have to wait until I catch up with it," said Winnie-the-Pooh.
714 "Now, look there." He pointed to the ground in front of him. "What do
717 "Track," said Piglet. "Paw-marks." He gave a little squeak of
718 excitement. "Oh, Pooh!" Do you think it's a--a--a Woozle?"
722 =head2 v5.8.5 - wikipedia, "Yew"
726 Yews are relatively slow growing trees, widely used in landscaping and
727 ornamental horticulture. They have flat, dark-green needles, reddish
728 bark, and bear seeds with red arils, which are eaten by thrushes,
729 waxwings and other birds, dispersing the hard seeds undamaged in their
730 droppings. Yew wood is reddish brown (with white sapwood), and very
731 hard. It was traditionally used to make bows, especially the English
734 In England, the Common Yew (Taxus baccata, also known as English Yew) is
735 often found in churchyards. It is sometimes suggested that these are
736 placed there as a symbol of long life or trees of death, and some are
737 likely to be over 3,000 years old. It is also suggested that yew trees
738 may have a pre-Christian association with old pagan holy sites, and the
739 Christian church found it expedient to use and take over existing sites.
740 Another explanation is that the poisonous berries and foliage discourage
741 farmers and drovers from letting their animals wander into the burial
742 grounds. The yew tree is a frequent symbol in the Christian poetry of
743 T.S. Eliot, especially his Four Quartets.
747 =head2 v5.8.5-RC2 - wikipedia, "Beech"
751 Beeches are trees of the Genus Fagus, family Fagaceae, including about
752 ten species in Europe, Asia, and North America. The leaves are entire or
753 sparsely toothed. The fruit is a small, sharply-angled nut, borne in
754 pairs in spiny husks. The beech most commonly grown as an ornamental or
755 shade tree is the European beech (Fagus sylvatica).
757 The southern beeches belong to a different but related genus,
758 Nothofagus. They are found in Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New
759 Caledonia and South America.
763 =head2 v5.8.5-RC1 - wikipedia, "Pedunculate Oak" (abridged)
767 The Pedunculate Oak is called the Common Oak in Britain, and is also
768 often called the English Oak in other English speaking countries It is a
769 large deciduous tree to 25-35m tall (exceptionally to 40m), with lobed
770 and sessile (stalk-less) leaves. Flowering takes place in early to mid
771 spring, and their fruit, called "acorns", ripen by autumn of the same
772 year. The acorns are pedunculate (having a peduncle or acorn-stalk) and
773 may occur singly, or several acorns may occur on a stalk.
775 It forms a long-lived tree, with a large widespreading head of rugged
776 branches. While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many
777 of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques
778 that extend the tree's potential lifespan, if not its health.
780 Within its native range it is valued for its importance to insects and
781 other wildlife. Numerous insects live on the leaves, buds, and in the
782 acorns. The acorns form a valuable food resource for several small
783 mammals and some birds, notably Jays Garrulus glandarius.
785 It is planted for forestry, and produces a long-lasting and durable
786 heartwood, much in demand for interior and furniture work.
790 =head2 v5.8.4 - T. S. Eliot, "The Old Gumbie Cat"
794 I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
795 The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots.
796 She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that's smooth and flat:
797 She sits and sits and sits and sits -- and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!
799 But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
800 Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
801 She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment
802 To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment.
803 So she's formed, from that a lot of disorderly louts,
804 A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts,
805 With a purpose in life and a good deed to do--
806 And she's even created a Beetles' Tattoo.
809 So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers --
810 On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.
815 =head2 v5.8.4-RC2 - T. S. Eliot, "Macavity: The Mystery Cat"
819 Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw --
820 For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
821 He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
822 For when they reach the scene of crime -- /Macavity's not there/!
824 Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
825 He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
826 His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
827 And when you reach the scene of crime -- /Macavity's not there/!
828 You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air --
829 But I tell you once and once again, /Macavity's not there/!
833 =head2 v5.8.4-RC1 - T. S. Eliot, "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"
837 There's a whisper down the line at 11.39
838 When the Night Mail's ready to depart,
839 Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble has he gone to hunt the thimble?
840 We must find him of the train can't start.'
841 All the guards and all the porters and the stationmaster's daughters
842 They are searching high and low,
843 Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble for unless he's very nimble
844 Then the Night Mail just can't go'
845 At 11.42 then the signal's overdue
846 And the passengers are frantic to a man--
847 Then Skimble will appear and he'll saunter to the rear:
848 He's been busy in the luggage van!
849 He gives one flash of his glass-green eyes
850 And the the signal goes 'All Clear!'
851 And we're off at last of the northern part
852 Of the Northern Hemisphere!
856 =head2 v5.8.3 - Arthur William Edgar O'Shaugnessy, "Ode"
860 We are the music makers,
861 And we are the dreamers of dreams,
862 Wandering by lonely sea-breakers,
863 And sitting by desolate streams; --
864 World-losers and world-forsakers,
865 On whom the pale moon gleams:
866 Yet we are the movers and shakers
867 Of the world for ever, it seems.
871 =head2 v5.8.3-RC1 - Irving Berlin, "Let's Face the Music and Dance"
875 There may be trouble ahead,
876 But while there's music and moonlight,
877 And love and romance,
878 Let's face the music and dance.
880 Before the fiddlers have fled,
881 Before they ask us to pay the bill,
882 And while we still have that chance,
883 Let's face the music and dance.
885 Soon, we'll be without the moon,
886 Humming a different tune, and then,
888 There may be teardrops to shed,
889 So while there's music and moonlight,
890 And love and romance,
891 Let's face the music and dance.
895 =head2 v5.8.2 - Walt Whitman, "Passage to India"
899 Passage, immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins!
900 Away O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!
901 Cut the hawsers - hall out - shake out every sail!
902 Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough?
903 Have we not grovel'd here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?
904 Have we not darken'd and dazed ourselves with books long enough?
907 Sail forth - steer for the deep waters only,
908 Reckless O soul, exploring, I with the and thou with me,
909 For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
910 And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.
913 O farther farther sail!
914 O daring job, but safe! are they not all the seas of God?
915 O farther, farther, farther sail!
919 =head2 v5.8.2-RC2 - Eric Idle/John Du Prez, "Accountancy Shanty"
923 It's fun to charter an accountant
924 And sail the wide accountan-cy,
925 To find, explore the funds offshore
926 And skirt the shoals of bankruptcy.
930 =head2 v5.8.2-RC1 - Edward Lear, "The Jumblies"
934 They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
935 In a Sieve they went to sea:
936 In spite of all their friends could say,
937 On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
938 In a Sieve they went to sea!
939 And when the Sieve turned round and round,
940 And everyone cried, "You'll all be drowned!"
941 They cried aloud, "Our Sieve ain't big,
942 But we don't care a button, we don't care a fig!
943 In a Sieve we'll go to sea!"
945 Far and few, far and few,
946 Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
947 Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
948 And they went to sea in a Sieve.
952 =head2 v5.8.1 - Terry Pratchett, "The Color of Magic"
956 "What happens next?" asked Twoflower.
958 Hrun screwed a finger in his ear and inspected it absently.
960 "Oh,", he said, "I expect in a minute the door will be
961 flung back and I'll be dragged off to some sort of temple
962 arena where I'll fight maybe a couple of giant spiders
963 and an eight-foot slave from the jungles of Klatch and then
964 I'll rescue some kind of a princess from the altar and then
965 I'll kill off a few guards or whatever and then this girl
966 will show me the secret passage out of the place and we'll
967 liberate a couple of horses and escape with the treasure."
968 Hrun leaned his head back on his hands and looked at the
969 ceiling, whistling tunelessly.
971 "All that?" said Twoflower.
977 =head2 v5.8.1-RC5 - Terry Pratchett, "Lords and Ladies"
981 No matter what she did with her hair it took about
982 three minutes for it to tangle itself up again,
983 like a garden hosepipe in a shed [Footnote: Which,
984 no matter how carefully coiled, will always uncoil
985 overnight and tie the lawnmower to the bicycles].
989 =head2 v5.6.2 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
993 When great or unexpected events fall out upon the stage of this
994 sublunary word--the mind of man, which is an inquisitive kind of
995 a substance, naturally takes a flight, behind the scenes, to see
996 what is the cause and first spring of them--The search was not
997 long in this instance.
1001 =head2 v5.6.2-RC1 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
1005 "Pray, my dear", quoth my mother, "have you not forgot to wind up the clock?"
1009 =head2 5.005_05-RC1 - no epigraph
1011 =head2 5.005_04 - no epigraph
1013 =head2 5.005_04-RC2 - Rudyard Kipling, "The Jungle Book"
1017 The monkeys called the place their city, and pretended to despise
1018 the Jungle-People because they lived in the forest. And yet they
1019 never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use
1020 them. They would sit in circles on the hall of the king's council
1021 chamber, and scratch for fleas and pretend to be men; or they would
1022 run in and out of the roofless houses and collect pieces of plaster
1023 and old bricks in a corner, and forget where they had hidden them,
1024 and fight and cry in scuffling crowds, and then break off to play up
1025 and down the terraces of the king's garden, where they would shake
1026 the rose trees and the oranges in sport to see the fruit and flowers
1031 =head2 5.005_04-RC1 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
1035 Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had
1036 plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was
1037 going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what
1038 she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked
1039 at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with
1040 cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures
1041 hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she
1042 passed; it was labelled 'ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great
1043 disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear
1044 of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as
1049 =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1051 This document was originally compiled based on a list of epigraphs
1052 on L<Perl Monks|http://perlmonks.org> titled
1053 L<Recent Perl Release Announcement|http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=372406>