Long before now he should have been given, well, not a uniform, they don't have these at the Castle, but an official suit; he's been promised one, but at the Castle they're very slow about things like that, and the worst of it is you never know what the delay means. It might mean that the matter is being dealt with officially, but it can also mean they haven't even begun to deal with it, that hey have put him on probation, for example; but it can turn out to mean that they have already dealt with the matter, that hey have withdrawn the promise for some reason or another and he will never get the suit. You can't find out what's going on, or only long afterwards. There's a saying round here, perhaps you've heard of it: official decisions are as shy as young girls.

The Castle by Franz Kafka