The devil tricks a little boy off his laughter in exchange for assured wins in all his bets. It depicts his journey after the deal with the devil, how he loses his soul bit by bit with each win.
Timm Thaler oder Das verkaufte Lachen is a 1962 children's novel by German author James Krüss. Regarded by the Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature as Krüss' best known children's book, Timm Thaler tells the story of a boy who trades his enchanting laughter to a wealthy mysterious Mephistopheles-like Baron in exchange for the ability to win any bet he makes. Regretting the exchange, he undertakes a four-year journey to win his laughter back. In 1979, Krüss wrote a sequel novel, Timm Thalers Puppen oder Die verkaufte Menschenliebe.