Note 92 — Chapter XII
Albert D. (Albert Dresden) Vandam translation
Here is the epitaph in question, which it is practically impossible to translate into English that would sound like sense:—
‘Ci-gît le Prince de Ligne, Il est tout de son long couché, Jadis il a beaucoup péché, Mais ce n’était pas a la ligne.’
‘Pêcher à la ligne’ means angling with a rod or with a line. The prince’s name, literally translated, means ‘the prince of line’; a change of accent on the verb would make it mean ‘transgressing.’