And does he bite them to death then?

The Rat-Wife.

Oh, not at all! No, we go down to the boat, he and I do—and then they follow after us, both the big ones and the little ratikins.

Eyolf.

[Eagerly.] And what then—tell me!

The Rat-Wife.

Then we push out from the land, and I scull with one oar, and play on my Pan’s-pipes. And Mopsëman, he swims behind. [With glittering eyes.] And all the creepers and crawlers, they follow and follow us out into the deep, deep waters. Ay, for they have to.

Eyolf.

Why have they to?

The Rat-Wife.