Meaning of a sentence

[karitaru]

I came across the following simple sentence that made me really doubt my English.

"Rundown merchant houses the color of a worn, faded shift silently formed a row of eaves."

This is a sentence from an English translation of a japanese short story collection by Edogawa Rampo.

Here is what I can make of it.


"houses that belong to merchants and that are broken whose color is the color of a worn faded underwear, formed a row of eaves."

I assume here that eves are similar to what you stand below when you wait for a bus.

Am I thinking in the right direction?

 

[bhaisahab]

I came across the following simple sentence that made me really doubt my English.

"Rundown merchant houses the color of a worn, faded shift silently formed a row of eaves."

This is a sentence from an English translation of a japanese short story collection by Edogawa Rampo.

Here is what I can make of it.


"houses that belong to merchants and that are broken whose color is the color of a worn faded underwear, formed a row of eaves."

I assume here that eves are similar to what you stand below when you wait for a bus.

Am I thinking in the right direction?

It's a very poor translation, it's hard to understand what it is supposed to mean.

 

[karitaru]

It's a very poor translation, it's hard to understand what it is supposed to mean.

Other than that, would you say my reasoning is alright?
I mean the usage of shift! Why would he use such a vague word, if he wanted an underwear or any other kind of clothing.

 

[bhaisahab]

Other than that, would you say my reasoning is alright?
I mean the usage of shift! Why would he use such a vague word, if he wanted an underwear or any other kind of clothing.

The "eaves" are the overhanging part of a roof, the part the stands out from the top of the wall.

 

[Johnson_F]

Other than that, would you say my reasoning is alright?
I mean the usage of shift! Why would he use such a vague word, if he wanted an underwear or any other kind of clothing.

Bhaisahab said it: "It's a very poor translation".
One could argue back and forth for a long time about individual words, but there is no point.

If we wish to discuss this seriously, then we need to know the original. Those of us who understand the original can then discuss the translation.

 

[Tdol]

Yes and no- if the translated version is garbled, it's a poor translation, unless the original is garbled, though in this case it might be advisable to say so.

 

[karitaru]

Thank you for the answers
Unfortunately I don't have the original Japanese version.
I think I'll go with what I have.


The name of the book, by the way, is the Edogawa Rampo Reader, and the story is "The daydream."