while (@vars)
{
        print "directive: ";

        print join " ", map munge_var($_),
                splice @vars, 0, 4;

        print $/;
}

##</code><code>##

sub print_directive
{
        return unless @_;

        print "directive: ";
        print join " ", map munge_var($_), splice @_, 0, 4;
        print $/;

        &print_directive;
}

print_directive @vars;