自制棺材，新西蘭人老有所樂

SYDNEY, Australia — Roger Terry and his wife, Grace, have little interest in quilting, fishing or book clubs. Instead, they meet with other retired friends each Tuesday at a disused sports center to build coffins, a hobby that has gathered followers across New Zealand.

澳大利亞悉尼——羅杰·特里(Roger Terry)和妻子格蕾絲(Grace)對絎縫、釣魚或讀書俱樂部沒什么興趣。相反，他們每周二都和其他退休的朋友聚在一個被廢棄的體育中心里制作棺材。新西蘭各地都有自制棺材愛好者。

“We have a heap of fun,” said Grace Terry, 77, a former nurse in Hawke’s Bay, on the North Island of New Zealand. “I’ve seen people come alive making their own coffins.”

“我們樂趣多多，”現(xiàn)年77歲、新西蘭北島霍克斯灣的退休護士格蕾絲·特里說。“我看到人們給自己做棺材時神采飛揚。”

Mrs. Terry’s own coffin, painted mauve and decorated with deep purple hydrangea blooms, sits in the couple’s home, waiting to be lined.

格蕾絲·特里自己的棺材被漆成紫紅色，飾以深紫色的繡球花，停放在夫妻倆的家中，等待裝配內(nèi)襯。

Mr. Terry, chairman of the Hawke’s Bay D.I.Y. Coffin Club and a former fiberglass molding specialist, said the club, established in 2013, had 120 members. The oldest is 94, with mid-70s being the average.

羅杰·特里以前是一名玻璃纖維模具專家，現(xiàn)為霍克斯灣DIY棺木俱樂部(Hawke’s Bay D.I.Y. Coffin Club)主席。他說該俱樂部創(chuàng)建于2013年，有120名會員。年紀(jì)最大的94歲，平均年齡則在75歲左右。

“It gives us old fellas something of interest, something to do,” he said. “But it also serves a purpose.”

“我們這些老家伙有了感興趣的、能做的事情，”他說。“但它也頂用。”

The country’s first coffin club was established in 2010 by a palliative care nurse, Katie Williams, in a makeshift workshop in her yard in Rotorua, also on the North Island.

新西蘭的首個棺材俱樂部，是由一位名叫凱蒂·威廉姆斯(Katie Williams)的安寧療護護士于2010年在北島羅托魯亞自家院內(nèi)的簡易作坊里創(chuàng)辦的。

“It grew from there,” said the treasurer of the Kiwi Coffin Club Rotorua, Joanne La Grouw, 66, who decorated her mother’s coffin, including the beading inside. The club’s motto is “fine and affordable underground furniture.”

“它從那里發(fā)展壯大，”羅托魯亞奇異棺木俱樂部(Kiwi Coffin Club Rotorua)66歲的會計喬安娜·拉格豪(Joanne La Grouw)說。拉格豪為她母親的棺材做了裝飾，其中包括里邊的小珠飾。該俱樂部的口號是“負擔(dān)得起的優(yōu)質(zhì)地下家私”。

The caskets are inscribed with the club’s initials, K.C.C., and are built to meet national standards: Each has a waterproof lining and is strong enough to hold a body.

刻有該俱樂部首字母KCC的棺材是按照國家標(biāo)準(zhǔn)打造的：每一口都有防水內(nèi)襯，而且足夠結(jié)實，可以放一具遺體。

The coffins are made from particleboard kits and are shaped like traditional caskets or as rectangles.

棺材以成套的刨花板制成，形狀與傳統(tǒng)棺木類似或呈矩形。

They can also double as aboveground furniture at home, disguised with cushions or blankets, until it is time for their primary purpose.

用墊子或毯子偽裝一番后，它們還可以在家中充當(dāng)正常的家具，直至真正的使命降臨的那一刻。

“We like to say it is only a box until you put someone in it,” said Ms. La Grouw, whose mother died at 94 last year.

“在把某個人裝進去之前，我們喜歡說它只是一個箱子，”拉格豪說。她的母親于去年過世，享年94歲。

The coffin kits cost about $170, significantly less than what an undertaker would charge for a coffin of similar quality. Club membership in Rotorua is about $7 a year and $17 in Hawke’s Bay.

一套棺材板的價格是170美元，大大低于殯儀館出售的同等質(zhì)量棺材的價格。在羅托魯亞，每年的會費約為7美元;在霍克斯灣則為17美元。

Mrs. Terry said that once people finish creating their own coffins at the club, they often build others for charity, or return to help other members. “It’s very social,” she said.

格蕾絲·特里說，人們在俱樂部打完自己的棺材以后，常常出于慈善目的為他人制作棺材，或者回來給其他會員幫忙。“這也是一種社交，”她說。