sub fetch_count
{
  my ($db, $table) = @_;

  $db->selectrow_array("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $table");
}

##</code><code>##

my $row1 = $dbh->selectrow_array('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_one');
my $row2 = $dbh->selectrow_array('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_two');

##</code><code>##

my ($row1, $row2)
  = map { $dbh->selectrow_array("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $_") }
  qw<table_one table_two>;