I repeat my question, and receive the same answer.

Another half hour passes, and one of the justices drives up in his tarantass.

Perhaps he is a glib-tongued gentleman, and assures me that the proceedings will commence at once: 'Sei tchas! sei tchas!' Don't believe what the priest or the dictionary tells you about the meaning of that expression.

The dictionary will tell you that it means 'immediately,' but that's all nonsense.

In the mouth of a Russian it means 'in an hour,' 'next week,' 'in a year or two,' 'never'-- most commonly 'never.' Like many other words in Russian, 'sei tchas' can be understood only after long experience.