This is a matter of precedence.
<li>{ $node//text()[1] }</li>
Has the meaning of "return all text nodes, that are in first position of their encapsulating element". Consider the intermediate result after partial evaluation to be something like ("allo!"[1], "Il pleut des clous."[1]) Applying parenthesis as you proposed in #4 resolves the issue:
<li>{ ($node//text())[1] }</li>
resulting in ("allo!", "Il pleut des clous.")[1] instead. This is not an issue in $5, as all text nodes are stored in a sequence (which is flattened), and you return the first result of the flattened sequence. -- Jens Erat Universität Konstanz Kommunikations-, Infomations-, Medienzentrum (KIM) Abteilung Basisdienste D-78457 Konstanz Mail: jens.erat@uni-konstanz.de