A farmer is sitting on his porch one evening when a stranger comes by and asks for a place to stay for the night. The farmer agrees, but tells the stranger that there’s only one rule: he must not go into the barn.
That night, the farmer catches the stranger sneaking into the barn. The farmer says, "I told you not to go in there! But since you did, you should know that there are no animals in the barn, just three big bags. Now, as punishment, you must open one of those bags and do whatever it says."
The stranger reluctantly opens one of the bags and reads the note inside: "You must plow the entire field by morning." The stranger, seeing no other choice, gets to work. He plows the field all night and finishes just as the sun rises.
Exhausted, he goes back to the farmer, who then says, "Now that you've completed the task, you can stay for breakfast."
At breakfast, the stranger asks, "What was in the other two bags?"
The farmer chuckles and replies, "One bag says you have to paint the barn, and the other says you have to fix the fence."
The stranger, still curious, asks, "Why didn’t you just let me stay in the barn?"
The farmer smiles and says, "Because those bags haven’t been opened in years, and I've been needing someone to do those chores for a long time!"