they are childish enough and in many ways quite artless. Who said it and when?
Answers
This line is taken from the story "Two Gentlemen of Verona" written by Archibald Joseph Cronin. in this the narrator tells about two boys he met on the foothills of Alps while on his journey to Verona which is a city in Italy. The two boys were selling wild strawberries. Later the narrator met them when they were polishing shoes. They said that they did several other jobs as well. So the narrator asked them to be his guide and show him the place.
The narrator said this line when the boys were taking him around the place. He observed that the two brothers were childish and in many ways artless. He noticed that they were childish, simple and innocent. Jacopo was full of life and energy like a squirrel while Nicola was serious and mature.
the narrator called the boys quite artless because they we so small that they were not able to handle themselves properly and their appearence were also 'shabby' and imperfect as thought by the narrator so the were artless.