舍不得孩子套不到狼

舍不得孩子套不到狼

Literally means:

you can't catch the wolf without giving up the child (shoes)

Actually means:

balance accounts carefully; make minor sacrifices to gain major interests

孩子 here refers to shoes.

The original form of this phrase is 舍不得鞋子套不住狼. For some Chinese dialects pronounce 鞋子 as 孩子, it now takes the current form.

This phrase means it is impossible to gain bigger benefits or achieve more important goals if one does not make sacrifices.

孩子，指鞋子。

原先的说法是“舍不得鞋子套不住狼”，因方言把“鞋子”读成“孩子”，后来便说成“舍不得孩子套不到狼”。

比喻不付出重大代价或作出重大牺牲，就得不到更大的好处或达到更重要的目的。