head, and he was dubbed Archipoeta by his jocose auditory. Leo X., hearing of the circumstance, was delighted with the jest, and invited Querno to the pontifical palace. His voracious appetite was whetted rather than satiated by the sumptuous dishes sent to him from the papal table; but before receiving his wine he was required to extemporize a certain number of Latin verses, an art in which he possessed a marvellous facility, and for every false quantity, a proportion of water was added by the unfeeling orders of his entertainer. On one unhappy occasion, holding forth a goblet pallid with immoderate dilution, the poet assuaged his despondency by the following epigrammatic conceit:
"In cratere meo Thetis est conjuncta Lyæo:
Est Dea juncta Deo, sed Dea major eo."
Such refined torture on the part of His Holiness amused their Eminences the Cardinals, and once excited some literary sparring between the accomplished Leo and his dependent, which the pious care of Paulus Jovius has preserved for the amusement of posterity:
"Archipoeta facit versus pro mille poetis,"
once indignantly yet proudly exclaimed Querno.
"Et pro mille aliis archipoeta bibit,"
was the ready and reproving reply.
"Porrige," exclaimed the bard in despair,
"Porrige quod faciat mihi carmina docta, Falernum."
The pontifical punster smiled as he observed:
"Hoe etiam enervat debilitatque pedem,"
and the worsted victim at once withdrew from the unequal contest.
