The Ballad of the Bread Knife

In days of old when knights were bold
Good grain grew tall over all the earth.
A loaf of bread was better than gold
And a baker was truly a man of worth.

Now the baker of North Cumbersome Shire
In need of aid for his growing trade
A young apprentice he did hire
To slice the loaves that he had made.

The apprentice found, as the days went by
That a longer knife is really nice.
For two loaves side by side could lie
That both together he could slice.

And then he thought, why only two?
For the longest knife in the bakery
Could do more than two, as he well knew
So he presently took to slicing three.

But when he attempted slicing four
His longest knife was not up to the task.
So he knocked on the master cutler's door
In hopes of a longer knife for to ask.

The cutler, at first, couldn't quite understand
Just what this young man was asking for.
For there wasn't a knife in all the land
That was suitable for the apprentice's chore.

The apprentice then further explained his position,
Then the cutler understood the young man's desire.
"I see that for your specific condition
A Four Loaf Cleaver is what you require!"