randpar.awk

#!/usr/bin/awk -f
# Select random paragraph from file

BEGIN { N = 0 # Index in array
    B = 1 # Last line was blank
   }
$0 ~ /^\r*$/ { B = 1 }
$0 !~ /^\r*$/ { if( B == 1 ) N++
            B = 0
            # Concatenate lines:
                pars[N] = pars[N] "\n" $0 }
END { srand()
      r = int( rand() * N ) + 1
      print( pars[r] ) }