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.