Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between the two of them,
They licked the platter clean !





History:

The statement between in the third line is otherwise seen as the expression betwixt; additional variations comprise "And so betwixt them both between" and "And so between them both, you see". In the comic paperback series Fables, Mrs. Sprat is momentarily seen. She is, as the poem tells, extremely fat indeed.

 It has been suggested that the poem pokes fun at Charles I of England and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France, who required ordinary citizens to house troops throughout his war with Spain; additional likely explanations consist of the proposal that "Jack Sprat" was a epithet for people of small build in the 16th and 17th century.