EYOLF. Then do you know what I want most of all, Papa? ALLMERS. No; tell me. EYOLF. I want most of all to be a soldier. ALLMERS. Oh, little Eyolf, there are many, many other things that are better than that. EYOLF. Ah, but when I grow big, then I shall have to be a soldier. You know that, don't you? ALLMERS. [Clenching his hands together.] Well, well, well: we shall see-- ASTA. [Seating herself at the table on the left.] Eyolf! Come here to me, and I will tell you something. EYOLF. [Goes up to her.] What is it, Auntie? ASTA. What do you think, Eyolf--I have seen the Rat-Wife. EYOLF. What! Seen the Rat-Wife! Oh, you're only making a fool of me! ASTA. No; it's quite true. I saw her yesterday. EYOLF. Where did you see her? ASTA. I saw her on the road, outside the town. ALLMERS. I saw her, too, somewhere up in the country. RITA. [Who is sitting on the sofa.] Perhaps it will be out turn to see her next, Eyolf. EYOLF. Auntie, isn't it strange that she should be called the Rat-Wife? ASTA. Oh, people just give her that name because she wanders round the country driving away all the rats. ALLMERS. I have heard that her real name is Varg. EYOLF. Varg! That means a wolf, doesn't it? ALLMERS. [Patting him on the head.] So you know that, do you? EYOLF. [Cautiously.] Then perhaps it may be true, after all, that she is a were-wolf at night. Do you believe that, Papa?