Ладья отчаяния

In the Belarusian city of Rogachev, there lived a poor nobleman named Gervasy Vylivakha—a joker and merry fellow, a drunkard and a debauchee. He lived in style, without looking back, and when the time came to leave this world of the living, Gervasy did not lose his presence of mind and began a game with Death itself.