Smiley's People汉译4

agent124

She was neither dressed nor built for exertion on a hot day, being in stature very short indeed, and fat, so that she had to roll a little in order to get along.
她的衣着和身材都不适合在大热天用劲。她的体型着实又矮又胖，走路时有点摇摇摆摆。

Her black dress, of ecclesiastical severity, possessed neither a waist nor any other relief except for a dash of white lace at the neck and a large metal cross, well fingered but of no intrinsic value, at the bosom.
她穿着黑色连衣裙，给人教会那样肃穆的感觉，除了领口处的一圈白色花边和胸前的一枚反复摩挲过，没有什么价值的大金属十字架外，没有腰线或其他任何装饰。

Her cracked shoes, which in walking tended outwards at the points, set a stern tattoo rattling between the shuttered houses.
她穿了一双破鞋子，走路时破损的地方就向外翻出来，边走边在大街上发出单调沉重的咔哒咔哒声。

说明：这句话很难译。 tended outwards at the points，施译为“走起路来脚趾都快要露出来了”，是自己想象出来的，李译为“脚上那双走起路来向外翻斜的鞋子”，也是不知所云。更难翻的是后半句，a stern tattoo rattling，查了半天资料才理解，这是作者的一种比喻，tattoo是英国的一种军乐，所以严肃(stern)，英国佬看到这句也许是会意一笑，但中国人难以理解，所以这个比喻就抛弃了。between the shuttered houses，怎么放都别扭，不符合汉语习惯。干脆也抛弃了。