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# Nikolay Agnivtsev in 1925 on a primus stove that envied the Ford, and Kalinin's reply
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/primus-ochen-ozabochen-chem-to-bolen-nedovolen-khot-on-primus-pervyi-sort-akh-ia-s-goria-v-pechku-kinus-rinus-kinus-oprokinus/
- Published: 2025-09-23T18:34:42.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:49:22.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Society, Humour

*The Primus stove is very* 
*Troubled,* 
*Ailing with something,* 
*Dissatisfied,* 
*Though he – a Primus – is first-rate.* 
*– Ah, in my grief I'll fling myself into the stove,* 
*Dash,* 
*Fling,* 
*Topple over…* 
*Why am I only a Primus,* 
*And not a "Ford".*

*Literal translation*

In the end the primus went round with this question to all manner of household appliances and garages full of machinery, and finally reached Kalinin himself, complained to him of the primus's lot, wept, and the man comforted him:

*– To explain everything to everyone is my duty, –* 
*Kalinin answered him* 
*At the end:* 
*– You, comrade,* 
*Fry,* 
*Boil,* 
*In that business you are a specialist.* 
*And remember this firmly:* 
*That for any country –* 
*Not only "Fords" are needed,* 
*But primus stoves are needed too.*

*Literal translation*

In the end the primus did not become any sort of Ford, not even the most wretched one. So much for import substitution.

**Nikolay Agnivtsev, 1925**