Serf, the homonym of surf refers to a laborer, usually on a farm, who is bound to a lord. In Europe, during the Middle Ages, serfs leased land from wealthy and powerful landowners, or lords, and paid them with their labor. This arrangement was pretty good for the lord, since he had someone else growing his cabbages for him. The serf didn't benefit as much, which is probably why we don't have serfs today.

The word serf comes from the Latin word for 'slave', servus, from which we also get the word servant. In Hungary, people greet each other by saying "Servusz!" which literally means "At your service!" Here in the Pacific Northwest, we would have modify that to "At your service, dude!" 

Loses a little in the translation, doesn't it?