This is so vague it's well nigh impossible to formulate an informative reply. Are you making some kind of Pron grepper for worldsex that is too embarassing to discuss specifically?
Perl is a tool best understood thru time; since time is obviously a serious issue, you might not be the correct man for the job in this case. Sometimes you just have to own up and say "I am not qualified to do this." Having years of C experience does not make this downgrading; rather it proves you are an honest employee.
The Llama is an excellent book; if you take a few days and read it thoroughly, and then get it's big brother coding Perl, you might just be able to pull this off, if you sacrifice enough calves to the gods...
Anyways, best of luck!
update: sorry anonymous monk, I think the above could be perceived as a flame, which wasn't my intent! I'm available for help (as I'm sure other Monastary friends are) if you care to establish an account and post the intricacies that are causing grief to your notepad.