  We establish a relation, conjectured recently by E. Witten, between the
hypermultiplet moduli space in compactifications of the heterotic string on an
A-D-E singularities, and the moduli spaces of three dimensional pure gauge
theories with the corresponding A-D-E gauge groups. It is possible to add a
bounded number of heterotic fivebranes sitting in the singularity, while (in
leading order in $\alpha'$) keeping the heterotic string perturbative. The
corresponding hypermultiplet moduli space is given by the moduli space of a
three dimensional gauge theory with matter.
