“死亡咖啡馆”助你直面死亡

Tea and sympathy traditionally accompany bereavement but soon you could also have cake, cheese toasties and frankness about mortality.

浓茶和同情对于丧亲之痛总是必不可少的抚慰，但很快人们也会拥有蛋糕、奶酪面包以及对于死亡的一份坦然。

London looks set to host a permanent "Death Cafe", a coffee shop where people can go to talk about one of life's most awkward subjects - dying.

伦敦即将开一家永久的"死亡咖啡馆"，在这里人们可以谈论人生中最避讳的话题之一——死亡。

Since the Death Cafe movement started in 2011 more than 2,000 popup cafes have sprung up across the world, with the majority opening in this country.

"死亡咖啡馆"活动始于2011年，此后两千多家咖啡馆如雨后春笋般相继出现在世界各地，其中大多数开在英国。

But now the movement's founder wants to open a permanent Death Cafe in the British capital and next month will offer shares in it at £50 a go.

但是，如今活动发起人想在英国首都开一家永久性死亡咖啡馆，并将于下月以50英镑的价格发行股份。

The permanent Death Café will run as a non-profit Community Benefit Society owned and managed by those who support it.

永久死亡咖啡馆将作为一个非营利性社区福利协会(Community Benefit Society)，由其所有权和运营权由支持者共有。

Funeral advisor and Death Cafe founder Jon Underwood says the aim of the movement is "to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives."

殡葬顾问、死亡咖啡馆发起人乔恩·安德伍德(Jon Underwood)说，这个活动的目的是"提高人们对死亡的认识，帮助人们充分利用他们(有限的)生命。"

Death Cafes are not intended to be bereavement support groups or morbid places. They are simply environments where mentioning death and the deceased or fears about personal mortality and means of dying are openly welcomed and not unsaid, sanitised or ignored.

死亡咖啡馆无意成为丧亲互助会或其他怪异的场所。它纯粹是为人们提供场所，谈论死亡、死者、对个人死亡的恐惧以及死亡方式。在这里可以畅所欲言，没有人审核你，没有人忽视你。

A survey by the charity Dying Matters reveals that more than 70 per cent of us are uncomfortable talking about death and dying.

慈善机构"死亡重要"(Dying Matters)的调查显示，超过70%的人谈论死亡会感到不安。

"We don't want toshove death down people's throats," Underwood told The Independent. "We just want to create an environment where talking about death is natural and comfortable."

"我们并不想逼迫人们直面死亡，"安德伍德告诉英国《独立报》(The Independent)，"我们只是想创造一种环境，让谈论死亡变成一件自然和舒适的事。"

He got the idea from the Swiss model (cafe mortel) invented by sociologist Bernard Crettaz.

他的灵感来自瑞士社会学家伯納德·克瑞塔茲(Bernard Crettaz)创造的"死亡咖啡馆"(café mortel)。

"I'm certain that Death Café London will be both beneficial for society and a chance for learning and discussion," Underwood explains. "In my experience, when people talk about death and dying, all their pretences disappear,

"我敢肯定，伦敦死亡咖啡馆既有益于社会，也为人们提供了一个学习和讨论的机会，"安德伍德解释道，"就我的经验而言，当人们谈论死亡时，他们所有的伪装都会消失不见，

"You see people's authenticity and honesty among strangers. Although it might sound really weird and wonderful to say you attend a death cafe, it just feels very normal."

"大家互不相识，你却能感觉到他们真诚、诚实。虽然参加死亡咖啡馆的活动听起来既诡异又奇妙，但却感觉很正常。"

Talking of Death Cafe London he says: "The time is right to offer a place where people can come to engage with death.More and more people are expressing support and getting involved.Death Café London is committed to enabling all people – especially individuals with marginalized identities – to buy shares in, work at, use and shape the venture."

说到伦敦死亡咖啡馆，他说："是时候提供一个地方让人们直面死亡了。越来越多的人表示支持并参与其中。伦敦死亡咖啡馆致力于使所有的人——尤其是被边缘化的人——入股、在此工作、使用和建造这个咖啡馆。"

Vocabulary

bereavement：丧友，丧亲

finite：有限的

authenticity：真诚，可信