CREATE TABLE `quotes` (
 `text` varchar(255) NOT NULL
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8
##</code><code>##

INSERT INTO `test`.`quotes` (
`text`
)
VALUES (
'“” ‘’'
);
##</code><code>##

mysql> select * from quotes where 1;
+----------------+
| text           |
+----------------+
| “”  ‘’         |
+----------------+

mysql> select hex(text) from quotes where 1;
+----------------------------------+
| hex(text)                        |
+----------------------------------+
| E2809C E2809D 2020 E28098 E28099 |
+----------------------------------+
## just so we know exactly what bytes are in there, my spacing

##</code><code>##


#!/usr/local/bin/perl
use utf8;
use strict;
use DBI;

my $dbh =
  DBI->connect( 'DBI:mysql:test:localhost', 'root', 'xxxxxxxx' )
  or die("couldn't connect to database");

my $text_display = $dbh->prepare('select * from quotes where 1');

$text_display->execute();

my ($text) = $text_display->fetchrow_array();

print "Text: $text" . $/;

##</code><code>##

    Text: ??  ??

##</code><code>##

    Text: ìî  ëí