for ( 1 .. $i ) { my $line = `head -$_ $filename | tail -1`; print $line; } #### my $line; my $ln = 0; for ($ln = 1; $ln <= $i; $ln = $ln + 1) { system ("head -$_ $filename | tail -1 > file.tmp"); open(FILE, "file.tmp"); my $tmp = $_; while () { chomp; print $_; print "\n"; } close FILE; $_ = $tmp; }