sub new { ... ... $self->{TABLE}{6} = ("4", foo", "was", "here"); $self->{TABLE}{3} = ("3", foo", "was", "here"); ... ... bless ( $self, $class); return $self; #### my @foo = @{ $self->{TABLE}{6} }; print "$foo[0]\n"; #### Can't use string ("here") as an ARRAY ref while "strict refs" in use at ./test.pl line x.