 Narayan 's next published work was the 1967 novel , The Vendor of Sweets . It was inspired in part by his American visits and consists of extreme characterizations of both the Indian and American stereotypes , drawing on the many cultural differences . However , while it displays his characteristic comedy and narrative , the book was reviewed as lacking in depth . This year , Narayan travelled to England , where he received the first of his honorary doctorates from the University of Leeds . The next few years were a quiet period for him . He published his next book , a collection of short stories , A Horse and Two Goats , in 1970 . Meanwhile , Narayan remembered a promise made to his dying uncle in 1938 , and started translating the Kamba Ramayanam to English . The Ramayana was published in 1973 , after five years of work . Almost immediately after publishing The Ramayana , Narayan started working on a condensed translation of the Sanskrit epic , the Mahabharata . While he was researching and writing the epic , he also published another book , The Painter of Signs ( 1977 ) . The Painter of Signs is a bit longer than a novella and makes a marked change from Narayan 's other works , as he deals with hitherto unaddressed subjects such as sex , although the development of the protagonist 's character is very similar to his earlier creations . The Mahabharata was published in 1978 . 
