use Data::Dumper; $ref = testRV( 'monks' ); print Dumper( $ref ); use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C' SV* testRV(char* dirname){ SV* record[2]; AV *entry, *ret_val; SV* retarray; int i = 0; ret_val = newAV(); while (i<10) { record[0] = newSVpv(dirname, 0); record[1] = newSViv(i); entry = av_make(2, record); av_push(ret_val, newRV_inc( entry)); i++; } retarray=newRV_noinc( ret_val); return retarray; } END_OF_C #results in: $VAR1 = [ [ 'monks', '0' ], [ 'monks', 1 ], [ 'monks', 2 ], ...