greg@sparky:~/test$ cat ./list_ref 
#!/usr/bin/perl -w

@a=qw/zero one two three four five/;
$ref=\(1..3);
@b=@a[@$ref];

print "\n \@a=@a\n \$ref=$ref\n \@b=@b\n\n";

greg@sparky:~/test$ ./list_ref 

 @a=zero one two three four five
 $ref=ARRAY(0x813dcc0)
 @b=one two three

greg@sparky:~/test$ perl -v

This is perl, v5.8.0 built for i486-linux

Copyright 1987-2002, Larry Wall

Perl may be copied only under the terms of either the Artistic License or the
GNU General Public License, which may be found in the Perl 5 source kit. <snip>