In January 1636, the cart is standing alongside a peasant's cottage outside the town of Halle. Mother Courage is gone to get some supplies. Soldiers sneak up on Kattrin and the peasants. They want the peasants' son to show them the path to the town, as they are planning a surprise attack. At first, the son bravely refuses, but when the soldiers threaten to starve his parents by killing off their few cattle and oxen, he leads them down the path.
The father climbs up a ladder to his thatched roof and sees other soldiers lying in wait. He voices a wish for God's mercy on the town. The mother takes up this theme, and she calls the father down from the roof to pray. Kattrin kneels behind the couple as the woman prays.....
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