#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

my @array;
open(FILE, "<file1.txt") || die $!;
local $/ = "****";
while (<FILE>) {
     chomp $_;
     push (@array, $_);
     $/= "####";
     }
close (FILE);
my $i="0";
foreach (@array) {
	$i++;
	print "$i$_$i";}

##</code><code>##

stuff****more
stuff####this shouldnt 
show up

##</code><code>##

C:\Perl>perl test.pl
1stuff12more
stuff23this shouldnt
show up3