in 1964, narayan published his first mythological work, "gods, demons and others", a collection of rewritten and translated short stories from hindu epics. like many of his other works, this book was illustrated by his younger brother r. k. laxman. the stories included were a selective list, chosen on the basis of powerful protagonists, so that the impact would be lasting, irrespective of the reader's contextual knowledge. once again, after the book launch, narayan took to travelling abroad. in an earlier essay, he had written about the americans wanting to understand spirituality from him, and during this visit, swedish-american actress greta garbo accosted him on the topic, despite his denial of any knowledge.