Scene 5 Summary

After two more years, the war is spreading to new areas. Mother Courage's cart has crossed Poland, Moravia, Bavaria, Italy and Bavaria again. Now, it stands in a badly shot-up village.

Mother Courage and Kattrin serve two soldiers at the bar. One of the soldiers has a lady's fur coat to exchange for pay, since the soldiers have received no pay. The chaplain rushes in to get linens to bandage up the wounds of a peasant family. Courage is out of bandages, and the only linens she has are officers' shirts for sale. She doesn't want to give them up. Kattrin threatens her with a plank, but the chaplain simply picks up Mother Courage and moves her out of the way. He gets four of the shirts from the cart. Kattrin rushes into the peasants' house to rescue a crying baby before the...